Confident Boland content to bide time for next opportunity

Rewind to November 8 last year and Scott Boland – then known solely as a Victorian quick – walked down to fine-leg and an empty Bay 13.

He'd just finished one of his 30 overs in that innings and, as he so often does, was in the midst of again bowling his state to victory, this time over NSW late on day four.

Fast-forward eight weeks and Boland – who had quickly become a national hero – made the same walk across his beloved MCG to be greeted by a euphoric roar from the Victorian faithful that was traditionally reserved for the state's greats like Shane Warne, Merv Hughes and Dean Jones.

But despite his rapid rise from Shield workhorse to Australian icon, Boland feels not much has changed in his actual skill set.

"Going into an international setup and training with some of the best guys, I feel like I'm really confident in my skills now," Boland told cricket.com.au ahead of the tickets launch for Australia's international summer of cricket.

"The last couple of years have probably been the best years of my career, especially in red-ball cricket.

"So I don't think I've really changed too much (in Test cricket) but I know what I need to do to get ready for games now and that just comes through playing.

"I've played 80-odd Shield games now … have 10 pre-seasons under my belt, so I know how it feels when I'm bowling well and if I'm not bowling well, I'm able to pick that up a lot quicker than what I was probably two years ago.

"So that's the beauty of getting a bit older and a bit more experience."

Boland has only played twice since the end of that Ashes campaign – the Marsh Sheffield Shield final and an Australia A match – but his confidence in his ability was clearly on show as he shook off a month of running the drinks in Pakistan to claim match figures of 7-89 against Sri Lanka A.

It wasn't enough to earn him a spot in the two-Test series in Galle but Boland understands that was as much down to the conditions than his place in hierarchy of Australian quicks.

"I knew it was going to be pretty tough to get a game over there but I was still doing lots of bowling, working hard on my skills and craft and having good chats with guys like (Pat) Cummins, (Josh) Hazlewood and Andrew McDonald," he said.

"Even though I'm 33, I'm still learning.

"My game doesn't change too much (in subcontinent conditions).

"I've pretty much played my whole career on pretty flat MCG or Junction Oval wickets so for me it's just about owning the stumps and trying not to get scored off.

"I've just got to be ready for when the next opportunity comes up."

Boland will again start the summer with Victoria while his all-format teammates look to defend their T20 World Cup crown on home soil, meaning he will be the only fast bowler from the Test squad that toured Sri Lanka to play Sheffield Shield before the first Test against the West Indies on November 30.

And he is acutely aware of the need to keep taking wickets and winning games for his state to maintain his place in Australia's hotly contested pace ranks.

"It's hard to predict the future in cricket," he said.

"In my last six months I've gone from playing every single game for Victoria to now being away in Test squads and missing games.

"So it's been great but cricket moves so fast that it I can't afford to look too far ahead because then I'll lose where I am now and I don't want to let anyone jump in the fast bowling queue.

"I just need to be ready to go for whenever I'm needed and try and put pressure on those guys ahead of me that if one of them was maybe not performing that hopefully I'll take one of their spots."