Late bloomer Scott Boland primed to deliver Ashes impact for Australia

“Scotty Boland, he’s now my favourite player. He always has been, but he continues to be my favourite.”

Sure the Australia captain, Pat Cummins, might have displayed some confusion about time and continuity. But his sentiment was what mattered, after another decisive bowling burst from the Victorian quick opened up Australia’s path to victory against India in the World Test Championship final.

It is difficult for anyone not to feel some affection for Boland, unless you’re especially invested in a team he’s opposing. Partly it’s the “that could be me” factor. You have a player who was ignored by Test selectors until the age of 32. Undemonstrative by nature, free of glamour in appearance or in cricketing style. A state-team bowler who pounded in with a heavy tread to bowl on a length at a moderate pace, toiling in the middle of grand cricket grounds in front of almost nobody.

And of course “that could be me” is a fallacy, because nobody else spent those years like Boland honing their craft, but the idea that a complete unknown could walk into elite sport and excel is a lot of fun. Anyone can get a kick out of imagining themselves in that spot.

Boland was largely unknown when he arrived and excelled, taking six wickets in 19 balls against England in the Boxing Day Test of 2021. Even more compelling was that his six for seven in the second innings came after far more workmanlike figures of one for 48 in the first. He had played a few limited-overs matches for Australia five years earlier but that had been it.

So the perception of an honest trier having his day in the sun appealed to people. Implicit in the affectionate response was also the perception that it was a fluke, that he would drop back behind Australia’s proper