Holland better for whirlwind initiation

Test spinner Jon Holland has no doubt he'd give a better account of himself if given another shot at Test cricket on Australia's tour of India next year.  

In the space of just seven days at the start of last month, Holland went from an uncapped spinner preparing to play for Australia A in Brisbane to being a Baggy Green recipient some 8600km away in the Sri Lankan city of Galle, scene of the second Test of Australia's recent tour of the island nation.

Given less than a week to prepare for his first international assignment in conditions his more experienced and better-acclimatised teammates were unable to master, Holland took five wickets across two Tests as the tourists slumped to a 3-0 series defeat and their ninth consecutive Test loss in Asia.

The 29-year-old says he "can't really remember much" of that Galle Test, such was the whirlwind nature of the previous week that started with his call-up to replace the injured Steve O'Keefe and included a mad dash from Brisbane back to Melbourne to renew his recently-expired passport.

And the left-armer says a more steady preparation in the future, if given the opportunity, would lead to better results.

"It all happened so quickly," Holland told cricket.com.au of the time from receiving a phone call from National Selector Rod Marsh to being handed his Baggy Green cap by fellow Victorian Merv Hughes in the coastal fort city seven days later.

"I was praying in that first Test I played that we won the toss and batted so I could just sit down and take it all in and have a think about it, because I never really got a chance to do that.

"To be honest, I can't really remember much of those three days of the Test that went by.

"I don't think I was overly nervous ... it was just more being out there and having a dream come true (and realising) it was actually happening.

"In hindsight, it would have been great to have been over there, or have known previously that I was going to be over there, so I could have worked on the things I needed to do.

"It was a really good learning experience for me.

"I don't think I bowled overly badly. I felt like I bowled pretty well in that second Test and I feel like with that under my belt, I could perform a lot better in the subcontinent than I did in those two games."

Without the luxury of adjusting his action before the series began so it would be more suited to the alien conditions – specifically bowling with a flatter and lower trajectory in the way Sri Lankan spin master Rangana Herath did with such great success during the three Tests – Holland was forced to adapt to his new technique in the high-pressure environment of the series itself.

And he has continued to work on those skills in the nets ahead of Australia A's clash against India A at Allan Border Field in Brisbane this week, the place where his world was turned upside down by a single phone call six weeks ago.

With a four-Test tour of India looming at the end of the coming Australian summer, Holland is desperate to be given another chance to implement the lessons he's learned.

"I definitely think I could bowl better," he said.

"The way I had to change my action, I'd love to get another opportunity to be able to prepare for a bit longer and try and change my action to where it feels more natural than what it did.

"Because I had to change so quickly, it was quite foreign to me and it was hard to get into a rhythm.

"But I got a lot out of those two Tests and the training I did over there and watching their bowlers bowl.

"If I was to get another opportunity, which I'd love, I'd definitely be able to improve on the two Tests I played."

In the short term, a major focus for Holland following the clash against India A this week is earning a permanent spot in Victoria's Sheffield Shield team, a selection battle most Test incumbents aren't accustomed to.

The strong form of leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed for the Bushrangers in recent seasons has restricted Holland to just five Shield matches in the past two summers, for a return of 27 wickets at 22 including eight wickets in the Shield final last March.

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But with the Vics boasting a battery of quicks including Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, John Hastings, Chris Tremain and Scott Boland, Holland's spot in the first XI is far from secure.

"I definitely think they could choose me and Fawad to play in the same team," he said. "We've got some good allrounders in Marcus Stoinis and Dan Christian who are more than handy medium-pace bowlers.

"But I think with the quality of fast bowlers we have, someone has to miss out, which is usually another spinner.

"We'll just have to see what the selectors will do and who's available because we'll hopefully have a lot of guys playing for Australia."

Holland and an Australia A side featuring fellow Test players Joe Burns and Jackson Bird will take on India A in a four-day clash at AB Field in Brisbane, starting on Thursday. The match can be watched live on cricket.com.au and the Cricket Australia Live App