Test debutant Scott Boland etched his name in the record books yesterday, becoming an instant cult hero in Australian cricket with an astonishing six-wicket haul that wrapped up the Ashes on day three of the third Test in Melbourne.
Plucked from obscurity when called up by selectors on Christmas Eve, the 32-year-old Victoria paceman finished with outrageous innings figures of 6-7 in four overs, sending his home crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground into delirium as England’s batsmen capitulated for 68 before lunch.
It was England’s lowest total in Australia for 117 years.
Photo: AFP
England had resumed on 31 for four, their faint hopes pinned on captain Joe Root and Ben Stokes building a partnership after another calamitous batting collapse late on day two.
Yet it all went up in smoke as paceman Mitchell Starc bowled Stokes for 11 before Boland started an incredible spell of fast bowling.
Boland had dismissed opener Haseeb Hameed (7) and nightwatchman Jack Leach in his first over late on day two, and returned yesterday to trap Jonny Bairstow LBW for five in his second over.
His third over produced the prized wicket of Root (28), with his fourth accounting for tailenders Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson, each going for ducks.
All-rounder Cameron Green capped England’s humiliation by having James Anderson bowled for two before the stroke of midday.
Australia sealed the series 3-0 ahead of the remaining two Tests in Sydney and Hobart.
Along the way, Boland matched the 19-ball record for the fastest five-wicket haul in Tests shared by England’s Stuart Broad at the 2015 Ashes and Australia’s Ernie Toshack in 1947.
Finishing with a seven-wicket match haul in a thumping innings and 14-run win, Boland could not have asked for a better debut, and won the Johnny Mullagh medal as player of the match.
“I’ve never had a crowd behind me like that,” said Boland, who slotted into the side after injuries to pacemen Josh Hazlewood and Jhye Richardson.
“I tried to soak it up when I was down at fine leg. I really enjoyed it. It felt like they were pushing me on when I was running in to bowl,” he said. “I was just hoping I was going to be good enough.”
“Just an awesome few weeks, so proud of the group here and just everything’s clicked,” said Australia captain Pat Cummins.
“So happy for Scottie in front of his home crowd today, just an amazing feeling,” he said.
England have only pride to play for, but appear to have little left in reserve, with their top order a massive problem.
Their batsmen were skittled for 185 in the first innings and have yet to reach a total of 300 in the series.
“Credit to Australia, they blew us away last night and they’ve outplayed us in this test match and in this series so far,” Root said. “We’ve got a lot of hard work to do to make sure we come back strong in the last two games.”
Meanwhile, former England cricketers and fans have begun a long and painful postmortem into how the team slumped to defeat.
“I’m a little embarrassed,” England legend Ian Botham told the Seven Network in Australia.
“To lose the Ashes in 12 days, I don’t know if that’s the fastest, but it’s got to be very close to it,” he said.
However, England supporter Tom Paternoster-Howe was searching for a silver lining.
“The only good thing about how pathetic and embarrassing this shower that passes for an international test team are, is that at least their incompetence will annoy 140,000 Australians who had tickets for the last 2 days,” he wrote in an e-mail to the Guardian’s over-by-over blog.
Additional reporting by the Guardian
Kylian Mbappe struck from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat a dogged CA Osasuna 1-0 on Tuesday to make a winning start in Spanish La Liga under new coach Xabi Alonso. The France striker, last season’s European Golden Shoe winner, scored early in the second half, after he was fouled in the area by Osasuna defender Juan Cruz. It was enough to seal the points in Alonso’s first game in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Madrid now unbeaten in their opening fixture of a league campaign since 2008. “You can see that Kylian wants to do even more
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
RSS