Skipper heralds a new wave
AUSTRALIA’S freakish success story Scott Boland is already fighting for his Test future, as captain Pat Cummins declared a new era of dominance has arrived for the baggy green.
Boland’s 6-7 man-of-thematch blitzkrieg on debut at the MCG will live long in cricketing folklore for destroying England and securing the fastest Ashes defence in history. It put Australia 3-0 up before the halfway point of the series when it skittled England for just 68 runs.
But in a sign of Australia’s overflowing depth, Boland could still be axed for the Sydney Test with Josh Hazlewood, Jhye Richardson and even leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson pushing hard for selection.
Australia had not played a Test since being embarrassed by India last summer, but under Cummins’ leadership, the team is now on the verge of joining the whitewash sides of 2006-07 and 2013-14 and according to the skipper, ready to launch into a new age of world dominance.
“We’ve been able to have a couple of debutants, and been able to build a strong squad of 15-odd players. It doesn’t just feel like a 3-0 victory, it feels like we’re really setting ourselves up for the next few years as well,” Cummins said.
“It hasn’t fully hit me – and when I think of what it means, I think more of what it means for our group of players.
“I think we’ve got seven players in the top 10 of the world at the moment. Four batters, three bowlers and we probably haven’t shown the performances over the past couple of years that we expected of ourselves.
“This really consolidates that we are a really good, strong cricket side.”
Cummins has set his eye on the next World Test Championship and conquering Australia’s demons overseas in huge sub-continental tours of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India in the next 18 months.
Australia’s extraordinary innings and 14-run humiliation of England just 80 minutes into day three came despite only scoring 267 itself – with the 82-run lead it held after the first innings the third lowest in history for victory by an innings.
Australia’s carve-up of England was so quick, the players came back out a couple of hours later for a game of backyard cricket on the MCG outfield featuring David Warner, Usman Khawaja and their kids – and of course the insatiable Marnus Labuschagne.
Richardson took five-wickets in Adelaide, Boland a famous six-wicket haul inside four overs in Melbourne, and Hazlewood – arguably the world’s second best fast bowler returned to bowling in the nets on Tuesday, to set up an incredible selection quandary for George Bailey’s panel,
which has itself been bold and brilliant this Ashes.
Cummins also admitted there would be huge temptation to give leg-spinner Swepson a debut in Sydney ahead of the tour of Pakistan in March.
“It’s one of those good days as captain that I can firmly say I’m not a selector, because good luck to them,” he said. “I thought it was a really brave call by the selectors to bring in Scotty for this game. Full credit. They’ve made the right call.
“Good luck for Sydney. “Jhye will hopefully be available, Joshy will hopefully be available and we’ve still got Michael Neser here in the squad.
“No idea – it might be a spinning track and you’ve got Mitchell Swepson bowling beautifully.
“It’s a luxury.”
Now Cummins wants the Australians to become road warriors like the Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting-led teams he grew up idolising.
“I absolutely want to be in that World Test Championship final in a couple of years’ time,” he said.
“Winning away from home. We’ve got a great opportunity to go over on a couple of sub-continental tours. When Australian cricket has been at its best, the Test side wins at home and they have a really good record away.”
Boland is accepting of the fact he could be dropped after recording the third best debut innings figures by an Australian on home soil – and the best in well over 100 years.
“It’s probably wait and see. But firstly we’ll enjoy winning the Ashes,” he said. “I think we’ll definitely enjoy a few beers over today and maybe tomorrow as well.”