Boland legend grows with new high
Boland, who took 3-2 in the final Test in Jamaica after being overlooked for the first two, is now the sixth ranked bowler in the world, ahead of man-of-the series Mitch Starc, who is 10th.
The entire first-choice Australian attack all sit comfortably in the top 10, with captain Pat Cummins at three, Josh Hazlewood at four and spin star Nathan Lyon, who was left out for Boland in the West Indies, at number eight.
It's a staggering feat for Boland, who has resigned himself to being a horses-for-courses selection, behind Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc despite performing whenever called upon.
The 36-year-old Victorian took three wickets in both innings of the final Test, a day-night affair at Sabina Park, taking his career haul to 62 from just 14 games, with regular spells out of the Australian team.
His bowling average of 16.53 puts him among the most effective in the game's history.
Speaking after his brilliant turn in Jamaica, Boland said he's comfortable knowing his role was to do a job when called upon behind some of the best fast bowlers the game has ever seen.
'I'm playing with three of the best fast bowlers Australia has ever had, so I'm happy to be in behind them,' Boland said.
'It's going to extend all of our careers if we can all stay on the park and keep bowling really well, so I'm happy with that.
'I know I'm not going to play every game, so I can be really specific with my training, and then when I get to a Test match I'm going to play, I'm ready to go.'
Confirmation of the brilliance of the Australian bowling attack comes through in the rankings. What a team - Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Scott Boland with the Frank Worrell Trophy. Supplied Credit: Supplied
It's the first time since 1958 a team has had six bowlers ranked in the world's top 10.
Lyon dropped a spot after being omitted to allow Boland to play in Jamaica, while Starc remained in 10th spot despite his haul of 6-9 in the second innings in his 100th Test, which took him past 400 career wickets.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
34 minutes ago
- Perth Now
One top pick out, one top pick in! Chesser set for return
Out-of-contract West Coast midfielder Campbell Chesser will play his first AFL game of the season this weekend when the one-win Eagles take on Melbourne at Marvel Stadium. It comes as the Eagles prepare to take on seven-time All-Australian ruckman Matt Gawn without their No.1 man Matt Flynn who has been dropped leaving Bailey Williams as the solo ruck. The West Australian revealed Chesser would be named in Saturday's line-up to take on the Demons, having featured in the past seven games for the club's WAFL outfit after an ankle injury in February hindered his start to the season. Chesser had 20 disposals in Sunday's defeat to Peel to put his hand up for his first senior game this season. After being West Coast's top draft selection at pick 14 in 2021, Chesser has been luckless throughout his career at West Coast, playing only 32 games in his four seasons. The 22-year-old midfielder last featured at AFL level in round 24 last year. Chesser's most recent AFL win — and one of only six for his career — came against Melbourne at Optus Stadium last May. 'He's had some challenging years and he's been able to build a platform of eight or 10 games of WAFL football and given himself a chance to finish off the year really strongly so yeah, he gets his opportunity,' Eagles coach Andrew McQualter said. Chesser in action last season. Credit: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images 'There was a period where he just had to play, that was important for him just to string some games together. And then, you know, when he started mid-year, he hadn't played under the way that we're playing our wing roll at the moment. 'So he's learnt that, he's improved in that understanding of the game, and it was a bit about continuity and then building up his form from there.' It comes as top draftee Tom Gross is also set to return to the side to help cover the loss of superstar Harley Reid after his season was ended by a syndesmosis injury he sustained in the western derby. Gross has played six games since he was drafted with pick No.46 last season, with the last of those coming in the round 11 defeat to Adelaide. The 18-year-old is coming off a strong game in the WAFL, kicking two goals from 23 disposals as well as recording five clearances in the loss to Peel. Chesser's pending inclusion means the Eagles will have used 37 players this year. Just three players on West Coast's list are yet to debut at the top level: Lucca Grego, Coen Livingstone and mid-season draftee Jacob Newton. He was joined on the plane by out-of-contract pair Jack Petruccelle and Loch Rawlinson however, both have been named as emergencies. Instead, Hamish Davis and 200cm defender Harry Edwards, who was a late out from the derby on Saturday because of a hamstring concern, have returned to the line-up. Jack Petruccelle is back in the Eagles squad. Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper / The West Australian It will be Davis' first game since round seven while defender, Sandy Brock and Jack Hutchinson, join Reid out of the team that lost the western derby to Fremantle. WEST COAST v MELBOURNE Saturday, Marvel, 11.20am EAGLES B: R Ginbey H Edwards T Cole HB: L Duggan R Bazzo T McCarthy C: R Maric B Hough C Hall' HF: J Cripps J Shanahan E Hewett F: T Borckman A Reid L Ryan FOLL: B Williams T Kelly L Baker I/C: M Owies C Chesser T Gross H Davis T Dewar EMG: J Petruccelle M Flynn L Rawlinson IN: H Edwards C Chesser T Gross H Davis OUT: S Brock (omitted) J Hutchinson (omitted) M Flynn (omitted) H Reid (injured) DEMONS B: J Bowey T McDonald J McVee HB: C Windsor D Turner B Howes C: K Chandler C Petracca H Langford HF: J Viney B Fritsch T Sparrow F: J Melksham H Petty K Pickett FOLL: M Gawn T Rivers E Langdon I/C: J van Rooyen C Salem C Oliver H Sharp J Culley EMG: X Lindsay J Adams T Campbell IN: H Sharp J Culley OUT: X Lindsay (managed) C Spargo (omitted)
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Westpac targets migrants from cricket nations in $40m sponsorship deal
Banking giant Westpac is attempting to win more business from newly arrived migrants from cricket-playing countries such as India, as it also tries to raise brand awareness nationally, under a new sponsorship deal with Cricket Australia. The bank's boss, Anthony Miller, a sports fan, on Thursday unveiled a deal in which Westpac will replace its biggest rival, the Commonwealth Bank, as lead sponsor of Australian cricket. The deal – foreshadowed late last year – means Westpac's logo will appear on the shirts of the men's and women's teams across the Test, one-day and Twenty20 format for all games played in Australia, including the Ashes series this summer. Westpac did not say how much it was spending on the sponsorship, but it is believed to be worth about $40 million over four years. Miller said the bank was drawn to cricket because it was an 'iconic community game right around the country', and added it was targeting customers from India, where cricket is hugely popular, and South-East Asia. Loading 'We get to participate with community right across Australia. There is no doubt that its appeal to India, and visitors and immigrants from India and South-East Asia is incredibly appealing for us. We want to win that business and target that particular market. But first and foremost it's anchored around the fact it's Australia's game, it's a community game and we're Australia's oldest bank,' he said. Miller has a keen interest in sport – two of his siblings have competed at the Olympics and his daughter Desiree is a winger for Australia's women's rugby team the Wallaroos. The Sydney-based bank, which already sponsors the NRL, also hopes the deal can help raise awareness of its brand in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, where AFL is the dominant football code.
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Sharks good enough for NRL's top four: hopeful Hynes
Nicho Hynes believes Cronulla are good enough to make the NRL top four as the race heats up in the final weeks of the season. The depleted Warriors' loss to struggling Gold Coast last week raised alarm bells for the Kiwi side, who could drop from fourth spot with two losses across their final six games of the regular season. Four-time reigning premiers Penrith and sixth-placed Brisbane are both poised for a late charge, but the seventh-placed Sharks may be better-placed for the potential vacancy. Across the final six weeks of the campaign, Cronulla play only one team that are currently in the top eight: a Canterbury (34 points) side that may rest players in the final round before finals. The Panthers (27) are one competition point ahead of the Sharks, but need to play three of the current top four, while the Broncos, on level points with Cronulla, twice face premiership favourites Melbourne (32). Craig Fitzgibbon's men are the only side of that trio that have a bye in the final six weeks and also do not need to leave Sydney, with three of their final five games to be played at Sharks Stadium. Ahead of Sunday's clash with 11th-placed North Queensland, halfback Hynes said Cronulla were capable of snatching a top-four berth at the 11th hour. "We set out a goal at the beginning of the season about top four and I feel like we are a top-four team when we're at our best. That's always in our sights," he said. "(But) we're not looking any further than the Cowboys this weekend, they're playing for their season. "They're going to be hungry and they're going to come down here with a bit of a revenge energy after we beat them up there earlier in the year." The Sharks are on a three-game winning streak but raised eyebrows by only squeaking out a two-point victory over struggling South Sydney last week. Hynes found positives in the 14-12 grind. "Anyone can win in this competition and it's really important to win in every kind of way you can," he said. "You need to keep turning up for each other and we did that." Cronulla were joined at training on Thursday by Australian basketballer Tyrese Proctor, who was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Draft last month. Raised in the Sutherland Shire, Proctor is a life-long Sharks fan and swapped stories with the players after their wet field session. "To go onto the biggest stage in his chosen area is huge," Hynes said of Proctor. "It's starting to show that Australia's here and we're serious about our sport." Nicho Hynes believes Cronulla are good enough to make the NRL top four as the race heats up in the final weeks of the season. The depleted Warriors' loss to struggling Gold Coast last week raised alarm bells for the Kiwi side, who could drop from fourth spot with two losses across their final six games of the regular season. Four-time reigning premiers Penrith and sixth-placed Brisbane are both poised for a late charge, but the seventh-placed Sharks may be better-placed for the potential vacancy. Across the final six weeks of the campaign, Cronulla play only one team that are currently in the top eight: a Canterbury (34 points) side that may rest players in the final round before finals. The Panthers (27) are one competition point ahead of the Sharks, but need to play three of the current top four, while the Broncos, on level points with Cronulla, twice face premiership favourites Melbourne (32). Craig Fitzgibbon's men are the only side of that trio that have a bye in the final six weeks and also do not need to leave Sydney, with three of their final five games to be played at Sharks Stadium. Ahead of Sunday's clash with 11th-placed North Queensland, halfback Hynes said Cronulla were capable of snatching a top-four berth at the 11th hour. "We set out a goal at the beginning of the season about top four and I feel like we are a top-four team when we're at our best. That's always in our sights," he said. "(But) we're not looking any further than the Cowboys this weekend, they're playing for their season. "They're going to be hungry and they're going to come down here with a bit of a revenge energy after we beat them up there earlier in the year." The Sharks are on a three-game winning streak but raised eyebrows by only squeaking out a two-point victory over struggling South Sydney last week. Hynes found positives in the 14-12 grind. "Anyone can win in this competition and it's really important to win in every kind of way you can," he said. "You need to keep turning up for each other and we did that." Cronulla were joined at training on Thursday by Australian basketballer Tyrese Proctor, who was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Draft last month. Raised in the Sutherland Shire, Proctor is a life-long Sharks fan and swapped stories with the players after their wet field session. "To go onto the biggest stage in his chosen area is huge," Hynes said of Proctor. "It's starting to show that Australia's here and we're serious about our sport." Nicho Hynes believes Cronulla are good enough to make the NRL top four as the race heats up in the final weeks of the season. The depleted Warriors' loss to struggling Gold Coast last week raised alarm bells for the Kiwi side, who could drop from fourth spot with two losses across their final six games of the regular season. Four-time reigning premiers Penrith and sixth-placed Brisbane are both poised for a late charge, but the seventh-placed Sharks may be better-placed for the potential vacancy. Across the final six weeks of the campaign, Cronulla play only one team that are currently in the top eight: a Canterbury (34 points) side that may rest players in the final round before finals. The Panthers (27) are one competition point ahead of the Sharks, but need to play three of the current top four, while the Broncos, on level points with Cronulla, twice face premiership favourites Melbourne (32). Craig Fitzgibbon's men are the only side of that trio that have a bye in the final six weeks and also do not need to leave Sydney, with three of their final five games to be played at Sharks Stadium. Ahead of Sunday's clash with 11th-placed North Queensland, halfback Hynes said Cronulla were capable of snatching a top-four berth at the 11th hour. "We set out a goal at the beginning of the season about top four and I feel like we are a top-four team when we're at our best. That's always in our sights," he said. "(But) we're not looking any further than the Cowboys this weekend, they're playing for their season. "They're going to be hungry and they're going to come down here with a bit of a revenge energy after we beat them up there earlier in the year." The Sharks are on a three-game winning streak but raised eyebrows by only squeaking out a two-point victory over struggling South Sydney last week. Hynes found positives in the 14-12 grind. "Anyone can win in this competition and it's really important to win in every kind of way you can," he said. "You need to keep turning up for each other and we did that." Cronulla were joined at training on Thursday by Australian basketballer Tyrese Proctor, who was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Draft last month. Raised in the Sutherland Shire, Proctor is a life-long Sharks fan and swapped stories with the players after their wet field session. "To go onto the biggest stage in his chosen area is huge," Hynes said of Proctor. "It's starting to show that Australia's here and we're serious about our sport."
