Scott Boland's rapid rise to cricketing royalty has not spontaneously happened. Any cricketing tragic would know Boland has meticulously developed his robotic line and length over several years.
Boland leads the 2021/22 summer wickets column with 35 at 11.82 and has 129 at 20.47 from his last four summers, definitely not just a flash in the pan.
Boland finished his first test series with 18 wickets at 9.55. The last bowler to take 15 or more wickets at an average of less than 10 was Jim Laker in his famous 1956 series. Before that, it was Bobby Peel in 1888.
Below I have gone through history and looked at some of the most outstanding debut test series between Australia and England.
6. Rodney Hogg carries Australia on his shoulders (Australia 1978/79)
On the 9th of May 1977, Kerry Packer dropped a media bombshell announcing he had signed 35 of the best players in the world. Australia was completely drained of their talent and fielded their 'third XI' against England for their home summer. England won 5-1, yet Australia found a bright spark in Rodney Hogg, who finished the Ashes with 41 wickets at 12.85. Without Lillee, Thomson, Walker, and Pascoe, the blonde-tearaway quick took 6/74 on debut, and by his third test, Hogg had 27 wickets at an average of 11.
What happened next?
Hogg played another 32 test matches taking only 82 wickets at 36.29. He struggled to reach the lofty level he achieved in 1978/79. Hogg was never too far away from controversy. He had a run-in with two of his captains (Kim Hughes & Graham Yallop) and joined the Rebels tour in 1985-86 to South Africa.
