Boland vows to make selectors' job as 'hard as possible'

Scott Boland says his troublesome knee is the best it's felt in a year-and-a-half as he vows to make the Australian selectors' job as "hard as possible" for next week's World Test Championship final.

Boland appears to be battling it out with Josh Hazlewood for the final spot in Australia's pace attack for the Test decider against South Africa at Lord's from June 11, with captain Pat Cummins and left-arm strike weapon Mitchell Starc all but guaranteed to play.

The Victorian is the incumbent after Hazlewood missed the end of the summer due to a calf strain, taking a career-best match haul of 10-76 at the SCG to seal Australia's Border-Gavaskar Trophy win, with just one fast bowler (Starc) required for the subsequent Test tour of Sri Lanka.

Hazlewood returned from his latest injury scare, a shoulder niggle, in the Indian Premier League playoffs over the past week, helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their maiden title on Tuesday night with a wicket in the final to cap a stellar 22-wicket season.

Australian coach Andrew McDonald told cricket.com.au he was confident Hazlewood had the match "intensity" behind him to get through the five days of the WTC final, with his two IPL playoffs appearances, which included figures of 3-21 in the Qualifier, a "nice box ticker".

"It was only four overs, but it was at intensity," McDonald said. "He's pulled up well and now it's just making sure that we get him right for the opportunity for selection for the final."

Boland was also managing his own injury troubles towards the end of the Australian summer, sitting out Victoria's last Sheffield Shield game in March due to an ongoing left knee complaint.

The 36-year-old has been managing the knee issue since at least the 2023-24 summer. He opted not to seek a county deal following the end of last domestic season like some other members of Australia's WTC squad and said the extended break had been crucial in building up the strength in his knee.

The right-armer had the ball hooping during the squad's first hit out on English soil on Wednesday as he and fellow quicks Cummins, Starc, travelling reserve Brendan Doggett and allrounder Beau Webster went head-to-head with the Aussie batters during a lengthy centre-wicket session at Beckenham in south London.

Hazlewood missed the session, only arriving in the UK from India later that evening following the IPL final.

"My goal over the last two months has been to get myself and my body in the position where I can put my hand up and be ready to go if it goes my way," Boland told reporters at the team hotel on Thursday.

"I probably felt at the back end of the Shield season my knee wasn't going how I wanted it to go, and it didn't feel like I was bowling how I wanted.

"I've had a fair bit of time off, so it's been trying to get my leg and body feeling really strong.

"Having a really good break of five to six weeks of just gym work and no running or bowling, I was able to get it to a spot where it's really strong and it's just gotten better and better since I've started running and bowling seven weeks ago.

"It's pain free, probably the first time in about 18 months.

"I've had two-and-a half months a really good prep and I've been back bowling for quite a while now.

"It's pulling up really well so that's all I can do; I just want to make (the selectors') decision as hard as possible."

McDonald said the longer lead in compared to the last WTC final two years ago had been beneficial for the entire attack with both Cummins and Starc also nursing ankle complaints by the end of the international summer.

"All the bowlers are really well placed," McDonald said.

"We probably did a little bit shorter last time than what we've done it this time because of the nature of six Test matches last time.

"This time it's four (WTC final followed by three Tests against West Indies).

"We've had our bowlers up and running a lot earlier than what we did last time – you're talking a couple of weeks, but in our world, that feels like a huge difference."

Boland was the star of the final day of that 2023 WTC final win over India with the key breakthroughs of Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. He's since used that performance as for motivation when things aren't going his way, rewatching the spell to ensure he's not missing anything in his preparation or execution.

"That's something I do maybe a little bit closer to the game or if I feel like I'm not bowling that well," he said.

"I'm really happy with how my body's feeling … two or three more bowls (at training) before the game and then ready to go, if required.

"Josh is obviously world class bowler, he's one of the best bowlers in the world and coming off a really good IPL.

"I'm sure he'll be doing the same thing; we all want to play but there's probably not room for all of us."

World Test Championship Final

June 11-15: South Africa v Australia, Lord's

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Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster. Travelling reserve: Brendan Doggett

South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne