Latest news with #Ashesof2023
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Hat-trick hero's ice-cold response to England's bad boy Bazball tactics
Softly-spoken seaming assassin Scott Boland has a simple message to England: sledge us to your heart's content, it won't worry us. Cricket Australia is billing this summer's Ashes as 'the biggest sporting event in the country this year'. It may also be the most spiteful battle for the urn since the ill-tempered series on these shores in 2017, just months before Australian cricket crashed with the ball tampering scandal. This time, it's England who are the self-appointed arbiters of the moral code, casting judgment on the spirit of cricket while also resorting to time-wasting and sledging in their pursuit of victory. Boland's 14 Tests have all come during the Pat Cummins era when Australia has prioritised winning with skill over emotion. 'They can do whatever they want when they're playing,' Boland said. 'I think we've been pretty consistent in the way we've played since I've been in around the squad the last four years, I think nothing much has changed on how we play our cricket. 'It's just going to be whoever takes on, whoever wins those big moments in the games and I know we've got match winners with the bat and the ball, so if they want to sledge, it's fine, I don't think it's going to worry us too much.' Boland, whose dollies to fans were whacked into the Yarra at a CA promotional event marking 100 days until the start of the Ashes, is more concerned with how to combat England's aggressive tactics to him. Bazball has been Boland's Kryptonite. In the Ashes of 2023 in England, he claimed just two wickets at 115.5 with an economy rate of nearly five an over – compared with his career marks of 62 at 16.5. The prospect of livelier pitches at home has him confident of improved returns.
The Age
a day ago
- Sport
- The Age
Hat-trick hero's ice-cold response to England's bad boy Bazball tactics
Softly-spoken seaming assassin Scott Boland has a simple message to England: sledge us to your heart's content, it won't worry us. Cricket Australia is billing this summer's Ashes as 'the biggest sporting event in the country this year'. It may also be the most spiteful battle for the urn since the ill-tempered series on these shores in 2017, just months before Australian cricket crashed with the ball tampering scandal. This time, it's England who are the self-appointed arbiters of the moral code, casting judgment on the spirit of cricket while also resorting to time-wasting and sledging in their pursuit of victory. Boland's 14 Tests have all come during the Pat Cummins era when Australia has prioritised winning with skill over emotion. 'They can do whatever they want when they're playing,' Boland said. 'I think we've been pretty consistent in the way we've played since I've been in around the squad the last four years, I think nothing much has changed on how we play our cricket. 'It's just going to be whoever takes on, whoever wins those big moments in the games and I know we've got match winners with the bat and the ball, so if they want to sledge, it's fine, I don't think it's going to worry us too much.' Boland, whose dollies to fans were whacked into the Yarra at a CA promotional event marking 100 days until the start of the Ashes, is more concerned with how to combat England's aggressive tactics to him. Bazball has been Boland's Kryptonite. In the Ashes of 2023 in England, he claimed just two wickets at 115.5 with an economy rate of nearly five an over – compared with his career marks of 62 at 16.5. The prospect of livelier pitches at home has him confident of improved returns.
