Brett Lee makes brutal call for Aussies to drop Scott Boland as coach fires back at Sunil Gavaskar

Brett Lee has made the staggering call that Aussie Test selectors should drop Scott Boland when Josh Hazlewood is fit again. Boland has been a revelation while playing for Australia, but his career has been hampered by the presence of Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.

In any other era the 35-year-old Victorian would probably have played dozens more Tests, but he's been limited to just 13. Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood will go down as some of Australia's greatest fast bowlers, and they're shown some incredible longevity over the last decade - not missing many Tests.

Any time Boland has been given an opportunity he's grasped it with both hands, and he now has 56 Test wickets at an extraordinary average of 17.66. He took four wickets in the first innings of the fifth Test against India, and six more on Saturday in the second dig to complete a 10-wicket match.

It helped Australia win the series finale as they chased down a target of 162 to complete a 3-1 series victory - getting their hands on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in 10 years. Boland's performances at the MCG and SCG over the last two weeks would seemingly make him undroppable moving forward - but not according to Lee.

The man with the seventh-most Test wickets for Australia (310) reckons selectors should axe Boland when the cartel of Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood are all available. "This guy (Boland) is a freak," Lee said at the SCG on Saturday. "His action makes him good, his consistency, his temperament. And he's under the radar. He's literally the world's nicest guy, he doesn't ask for the accolades, and he catches people off guard.

"[But] my gut says you have to pick those three guys (Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood) every day of the week. Starc and Cummins are obviously playing now because they're fully fit, but if Hazlewood gets his fitness back and is ready to play, unfortunately you have to go with Josh Hazlewood, and when I say unfortunately, unfortunately for Scott Boland. A fit Josh Hazlewood gets into any Test line-up, in my opinion. What do you do when three doesn't go into four? It's a tough one."

Scott Boland the Stuart MacGill of his generation

Lee likened Boland's career to that of Stuart MacGill, which was largely blocked by the great Shane Warne. MacGill took 208 wickets at 29.02 across 44 Tests, and would have walked into any side that didn't contain Warne.

Eleven of MacGill's Tests came when Warne was serving a year-long drug suspension, and another four followed Warne's retirement in early 2007. Only 16 times was there room in the XI for both MacGill and fellow leg-spinner Warne - predominantly on the sub-continent or at the previously spin-friendly SCG.

"It's a bit like MacGill and Warne, that's probably the best analogy I could say," Lee said. "Stuart MacGill took 200 Test wickets as a back-up bowler to Shane Warne. But he wasn't a back-up bowler, he was a No.1 spinner anywhere in the world. I think Boland's got that same unlucky thing, being born at the wrong time when Australian fast-bowling is so good, so strong."

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Andrew McDonald fires back amid Sunil Gavaskar complaint

Meanwhile, Aussie coach Andrew McDonald has defended the pitch used for the fifth Test at the SCG amid claims curators should have prepared a flatter strip to help Australia get a draw. The Aussies only needed a draw to claim the trophy for the first time in 10 years, but a win for India would have seen them retain it.

A total of 26 wickets fell on the first two days of the Sydney Test, with a green pitch providing plenty of assistance for the pacemen. Curators used a new variety of grass this summer, resulting in above-average carry and plenty of seam movement.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar claimed on Saturday night that if wickets fell at this rate in India, "there would be hell". But McDonald said the shift towards a livelier SCG wicket should not be considered a bad thing.

"The ground staff have done an incredible job in terms of creating a wicket with something in it," McDonald said. "Traditionally here it is quite benign, and a lot of people have been talking about the draws. So you're damned if you do, damned if don't. This game has sped up.

"I think he is trying to produce an even contest between bat and ball. Has it favoured bowlers a little more than what we expected and potentially the ground staff expected? There is no doubt about that. But it has made for interesting cricket."

with AAP