Scott Boland forces SCG crowd into unthinkable move as cricket world laments great 'shame'

Cricket fans are lamenting the lack of Tests that Scott Boland has been able to play in his career after the Victorian destroyed India at the SCG on Friday - and again on Saturday. Boland took 4-31 off 20 overs - going at just 1.55 per over - as Australia bowled the tourists out for just 185 in the first dig.

He backed it up with 6-45 in the second innings before Australia won the Border Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in 10 years, completing a 3-1 series victory in Sydney. In 13 career Test matches, Boland has 56 wickets at an extraordinary average of 17.66. There were stunning scenes at the SCG on Friday when the Sydney crowd gave Boland a standing ovation as he headed down to the boundary at one stage.

As Brad Haddin pointed out in commentary for Triple M, it was a rare sight to see a Sydney crowd give such adoration to a Victorian. The Test team has predominantly featured NSW bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood for the better part of the last decade, meaning Sydney crowds have rarely seen paceman from outside their home state.

"Everyone in NSW is on their feet for a Victorian, this is a rare day," Haddin said. "Scotty Boland once again, he puts pressure on the new batsman and makes them play."

The roar of the crowd was deafening when Boland dismissed Rishabh Pant and Nitish Kumar Reddy in consecutive balls, and even more so when he steamed in for the hat-trick ball. He narrowly missed three-in-three, but the reaction and Boland's performance will make him hard to drop when Hazlewood is fit again.

Cricket fans lament 'shame' of Scott Boland's Test career

At age 35, time is running out for the Victorian. As many have pointed out, he would have played many more Tests if he wasn't playing in an era where Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood have dominated with such longevity.

Starc had taken 373 Test wickets before the SCG Test kicked off, while Hazlewood had 279 and Cummins 289. The pace cartel have hardly missed any Tests in the last decade, meaning Boland hasn't been given the opportunity he deserves.

West Indian great Ian Bishop wrote on social media on Friday: "Absolute pity that Scott Boland could not debut in Test cricket until he was nearly 33 years of age." Another pundit wrote: "Scott Boland could legit be one of the best pace bowlers of all time. Its a shame he started in the Australian team at an advanced age (for a fast bowler)."

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Calls for Scott Boland to remain in Australia's first-choice XI

Boland's 4-31 on the opening day in Sydney not only put Australia on the path to regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but it potentially extended his own Test career. There's a compelling case for him to be part of Australia's first-choice XI moving forward, even when Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood are all fit.

In the past 60 years, the only Australian fast bowler to play beyond his 36th birthday is Glenn McGrath. Boland will reach that mark in April, and he could join McGrath if he's picked for the Ashes next summer.

With Hazlewood injured and Cummins likely to skip the upcoming Sri Lanka tour due to the birth of his second child, Boland will remain in the Aussie XI alongside Starc and two spinners. But selectors will face a tricky call for the likely World Test Championship final in June and the Ashes next summer.

"He's a difficult customer, Scotty," teammate Beau Webster said after play on Friday. "If there is anything in the wicket he finds it. And if there is nothing in the wicket he still manages to find a way through.

"He's been fantastic this whole series when he's got his chance. He is relentless. His line, length and natural angle makes it really hard. He can bowl long spells and back up the next day, he's just been superb."

with AAP