Boland was in a race with Michael Neser, the team’s substitute for Hazlewood, but Australia chose to stick with the Victorian sprinter.
Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, nearly announced their starting lineup for the World Test Championship final against India, which begins on Wednesday at The Oval in England. In the Australian XI, there were essentially two positions open for discussion. By announcing that Scott Boland will replace the injured Josh Hazlewood as the third seamer, Cummins laid one of them to rest for good. As Hazlewood’s replacement in the squad, Michael Neser was in a battle with Boland, but the Australian think tank chose to go with the Victorian sprinter.
Boland, who has had a fantastic start to his career, has looked well in the practise sessions, according to Cummins. Boland has taken 28 wickets in seven Test matches with an average of 13.42.
“In the past here in England, the ball does talk a little more, and I’ve seen players get too caught up in trying to take wickets every ball because you’ve suddenly got the ball swinging and seaming,” said Cummins.
“For someone like Scotty, the game plan is fairly straightforward: you hit your strong spots, you stay there all day, and ideally the ball will do the heavy lifting for you. He has now had several bowls over here and has been looking terrific. But every time he bowls, he looks terrific,” the Australian skipper continued.
In the speed department, Boland will team up with Cummins and Mitchell Starc, while Nathan Lyon will be the only spinner in Australia’s starting XI for the WTC final.
Although Cummins did not specifically identify the players from 1 to 11, it is very clear that Usman Khawaja will partner David Warner at the top of the order after Warner said that the home series against Pakistan will be his final in the longest format. Marcus Harris is expected to lose out to Warner despite not being in the greatest of form.
