Scott Boland took a bit of stick early in the opening Test at Perth. England, fresh from pre-series talk about targeting him, clipped him for more than six an over while Mitchell Starc was wreaking havoc from the other end. Yet by the close of day two the narrative had flipped: Boland had removed Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook in 11 post-lunch balls, dragging Australia back into a match that had been slipping.
“It probably just proves to me that my good stuff, it doesn’t matter who it’s to, I think it feels like when I’m getting in the right areas it’s good enough to anyone,” he said before travelling to Brisbane for Thursday’s second Test. “I think that gives me a little bit of confidence that if I’m nailing my game… I’m good enough to compete with anyone.”
The recovery came down to something simple: length. In the first innings Boland over-pitched, hunting late swing and gifting boundaries — “seven or eight half-volleys,” by his count. In the second he pushed the ball back towards a length that has made him so difficult to line up. He also shifted his line a shade wider, coaxing Pope and Brook into drives away from the body.
“I think Ronnie’s pretty nice to me there,” Boland joked when reminded that coach Andrew McDonald blamed an aggressive new-ball plan more than execution. “I just had one of those days where I just felt like I was over-pitching too much. Obviously, I wanted to start a little bit fuller than normal with the new ball, but I probably bowled seven or eight half-volleys and they all went for four. Some days half of them don’t and you think it’s a little bit better.
“I was pretty happy with how I bounced back in the second innings. I sort of went back to my natural length. Stuff that I know I’m really good at. I was obviously really disappointed with how I bowled in the first innings because generally I don’t bowl too many half-volleys.”
From England’s side, Pope admitted the wider line remains a double-edged proposition — riskier for bowlers but inviting mistakes from batters who chase.
“It’s trying to learn the lessons, and take some positives,” he said. “I think it is just about being really precise with how you go about it. They can hang it out wide but as soon as they do miss their lengths it is about trying to put them under pressure there as well.
“I look back on that [second] innings and the dismissal, [and] it’s just being that bit more precise, going about it in the same way but having that little bit more [precision] in my game.”
Next stop is the Gabba, a ground that rarely shirks pace and bounce, though the surface is seldom as quick as Perth’s. Boland, who averages an eye-catching 13.16 in day-night Tests, expects to keep the same basic template: test that fourth-stump line, hold length, and mix in the bumper if a batter starts sitting back.
“I think we’ll get some good bounce here at the Gabba, which we usually do,” he said. “We went through what worked in Perth and what’s going to work here. It feels like a lot of the stuff is very similar.”
Australia’s selectors face an interesting call once Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood return to full fitness later in the summer. For now, Boland looks locked in. So does the contest: England, despite collapsing from 105 for 1 to 214 all out in the second innings at Perth, have shown they will keep throwing punches, particularly if Australia persist with that attacking, sometimes hittable line outside off.
From Boland’s perspective the trip north is a chance to firm up the lessons learned out west. The plan is clear, the confidence freshly topped up, but he knows Test cricket has a habit of asking the same question twice. He just gave a strong answer in Perth; England will be back to find out if he can repeat it in Brisbane.
