Australia’s English-style player Scott Boland issues Ashes warning after complete overhaul

Scott Boland had no trouble adapting to Test cricket in England, taking his first wicket away to Australia after only 10 balls and before conceding a run.

The wicket itself was a serious case of misunderstanding, it cannot even be termed as ‘bad shot’ as no shot was given by Shubman Gill.

The Indian opener dropped the ball, which hit his stumps in the middle and Boland missed the target.

Few in England would have heard of the fast bowler when he made his impressive debut in the last Ashes series at the MCG, winning 4-6 as the tourists were stunned and the urn recovered by Australia.

Boland ended England’s disappointing Ashes run with 18 wickets in three matches and it looks like a perfect match with the red-ball Dukes.

Having never played with a Duke – Australia use slightly smaller Kookaburras for their Test matches – Boland entered Test cricket in England and never looked out of place.

The talk during his Ashes debut was how he is an English-style bowler and coupled with a Dukes ball, he looks like a serious threat with pace and pace. It was always a good match, but it was a perfect turnaround for Boland.

“My first experience with the red ball here and I thought it went well personally,” Boland told Test Match Special.

“Hopefully we can get into it tomorrow and take them down.

“It’s like two mini-series for us – one against India and five after that against England. We all hit the ground running. The preparation was fantastic.

“Nothing changes in my game plan. I’m trying to put the ball in a little box and not stray too far from it.”

It was a day of Australian dominance on the second day of the World Test Championship at The Oval in London, with India ending the day at 151–5, 317 runs behind Australia’s first innings 469.

There were some warning signs of England’s approach ahead of next week’s Ashes series, when Steve Smith scored 121 and Travis Head scored 163.

Pat Cummins, one of world cricket’s biggest threats with the new ball, also took one wicket for 36 runs in nine overs.

Despite the efforts of the flag-waving and crowd supporting India, the World Test Championship final itself looks like an Ashes warm-up, at least from an Australian perspective.

Mitchell Starc claimed the crucial wicket of Virat Kohli, but there was also a long Mexican wave, suggesting a crowd looking for some form of entertainment more than the contest they usually pay to watch .