Boland became the second male indigenous Australian player to play Test cricket.
Australia’s fast bowler Scott Boland felt "proud" after becoming only the fourth Indigenous Australian to play Test cricket, having earned a baggy green at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne for the ongoing Boxing Day Test against England.
The 32-year-old Boland joined indigenous Australians Faith Thomas, Jason Gillespie, and Ashleigh Gardner to play Test cricket, and now he hopes to be a role model for young Indigenous kids taking up cricket. Scott Boland is of the Gulidjan tribe in the Colac area of Victoria.
Notably, Indigenous Australians are prominent in the country's most popular winter sports competitions, the Australian Football League (AFL) and the National Rugby League, but cricket has been struggling to develop players to the highest level in this community.
He made his Test debut on Sunday, December 26, in the third Test of the ongoing Ashes in 2021-22, dismissing Mark Wood for his maiden wicket on Day 1 against England at the MCG.
Boland told reporters: “Pretty proud. Obviously, my family's very proud as well. It means a lot to join a pretty small club and hopefully, it's just the start of something big for the Indigenous community in cricket.”
The pacer added, “I just hope I can be a role model for young Indigenous kids to want to play cricket. I think the Indigenous community in AFL and rugby are so big and hopefully one day Aboriginals in cricket can be just as big.”
Meanwhile, Boland was given his debut cap following injuries to pacers Josh Hazlewood and Jhye Richardson. However, the pacer was unlucky in the first two sessions, but he finally managed to trap Mark Wood lbw for six.
Later, Wood decided to take DRS, but the decision was upheld with the ball-tracking technology showing the ball would have crashed into the middle stump and, eventually, Boland got his maiden Test wicket.
Boland signed off by saying, “So happy. All my teammates really got around me which made it really special. When I went down to the boundary the crowd was going nuts.”
(With India Today Inputs)