Bollinger still toast of the Blues

Doug Bollinger is 35. He hasn't played a Test match in almost six years. And he's currently doing his Level Three coaching certificate with an eye to life after cricket.

But none of that means Bollinger won't be a pivotal figure in New South Wales' bid to win their first Sheffield Shield title since the summer of 2013-14.

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With the Blues on Queensland's Sunshine Coast for a series of trial matches, the left-arm veteran is pushing himself through another pre-season, alongside the younger fast-bowling teammates with whom he is enjoying a mutually beneficial relationship.

"It's been a long pre-season but it's been fun," Bollinger told cricket.com.au. "It's getting a bit harder to get moving but the younger guys push me along, whether it's in the gym or in the nets.

"I take (his mentorship of the young quicks) quite personally; I want to try to help them and give them as much as I can.

"Some of these guys are going to take my spot soon so I want them to be ready to go and full of the passion and commitment that we want with New South Wales."

Soon?

NSW assistant coach and former Australia quick Geoff Lawson disagrees. 

"Doug's doing his coaching course at the moment, and he's got his (post-playing) career to think of but he's still one of our main bowlers.

"He proved that once again last season. He had a couple of injuries but was still our highest wicket-taker in first-class cricket.

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"He had a terrific season and he's been fabulous from that point of view, but he's looking ahead and wants to be a coach as well.

"And as a senior player and a guy with as many games under his belt, he has to be a leader – the players expect that, not just the coaching staff, and Doug's certainly taking that more and more on board."

Bollinger took 27 wickets at 23.48 last season and 24 at 25.12 the year before that. In 2013-14 he took 31 (24.09) and in 2012-13 he took 28 (27.32).

It's a grand total of 110 wickets in four summers.

The success, he believes, is a mental thing; as he grew older, he took the pressure off himself. It worked, so he stuck with it.

"It's been lots of fun, just playing cricket with the guys at NSW," he said. "There's no pressure to perform, I'm not so serious at the game, and I'm better because of that – that's been the massive key the past four seasons.

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"Once you get a bit older, a bit wiser, you realise you're going to have more bad days than good. You just have to soak that up and when they're good days, you make the most of it. It's just getting older, and knowing your game more."

Thirty-five last month, Bollinger isn't willing to commit to a summer beyond 2016-17 but won't rule it out, either.

"It's every net session as it comes at the moment," he offered. "I'd like to say I've got another couple of seasons in me but let's just focus on how I'm bowling and how I feel.

"If I can still get wickets competitively, then I know I'm OK, but if it's starting to get a bit tougher and the guys are into me, we'll have to see what happens.

"Physically it does get draining. They're long seasons and there's a lot of cricket. It's a wonderful job but after a while it does start to take down your body."

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The immediate focus is the Blues' defence of the Matador Cup, a tournament which, quite incredibly, Bollinger didn't play in last year after Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood returned to the squad following the postponement of Australia's tour of Bangladesh.

"It's a bit of a hard task coming after 'Starcy'," Bollinger said of his NSW colleague, who took 26 wickets in last year's tournament at the ridiculous average of 8.11. "It's always a challenge, the Matador Cup, they're all good teams and there's so many good players.

"But it would be good to start that well with a couple of wickets and just progress from there."

And while the veteran quick would never turn down an offer to wear national colours again – he's played 12 Tests, 39 ODIs and nine T20Is – he's philosophical about where his future lies.

"You always have regrets – I wish I'd played more games, or got more wickets, but that's the game," he explained.

"I've done something not many people have done in their career and something I've always wanted to do, so I'm not going to dwell on everything.

"Now I'm in the stage of my career where I'm just trying to help these guys become the players they want to be and get those same opportunities."