MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Last year’s Boxing Day hero Scott Boland retained his place in Australia’s bowling attack and will line up at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against South Africa starting Monday.
The fast bowler will return to the scene from his Test debut last December, with the Australia selectors opting for Boland over Josh Hazlewood, who continues to recover from a lateral strain.
Captain Pat Cummins confirmed on Sunday that Australia would be left with the same XI that beat Proteas by six wickets in just two days in the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane.
“We gave Joshy every opportunity, it just got to a stage where Joshy, more than anyone, probably thought he was a little off,” Cummins said. “It’s probably the mark of the man who himself thought: ‘I don’t feel quite right’ and he withdrew from the national team.”
Boland has taken 25 wickets in his five Tests at an average of 10.36. The 33-year-old Boland topped the England batsmen with six wickets and allowed just seven runs at the MCG last year to secure man of the match honors on his debut to help Australia retain the Ashes.
Australia will be looking to secure their first Test series victory against South Africa on home soil since 2005-06 with a 2-0 lead at the MCG. The third test is in Sydney from January 4.
Veteran opener David Warner will become the 14th Australian to play 100 Tests when he takes on the Proteas. The lefty is hoping his historic match will generate some runs in the red-ball format – he hasn’t scored a Test century since January 2020.
South Africa captain Dean Elgar has confirmed at least one change to his team’s batting line-up, but did not say who is in or out ahead of Monday’s draw at the MCG.
While Elgar praises his attacking pace as the best in the world, South Africa are not making enough runs to give the bowlers a realistic chance. He has scored over 400 just once this year, against Bangladesh.
His problems were highlighted on the green roof of Gabba in the first test.
“Our preparation in Brisbane was brilliant, we had two weeks where the guys were hitting pretty well,” said the opener, who was dismissed for three and two at the Gabba.
“It was a little hiccup we had (at) the Gabba. But both batting units had that, except for one batsman (92 from Travis Head for Australia). Going back to the drawing board, that was the most important thing for us and trying to simplify things, to make the guys realize certain things that maybe they had forgotten about.
Brisbane’s brief match put a spotlight on Gabba’s wicket, which the International Cricket Council rated as sub-par.
Elgar said MCG’s pitch is holding up well as Melbourne’s weather improves: “I hope it’s the past and never a repeat.”
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Teams:
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon.
South Africa: To be named on Monday.
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