Melbourne: Scott Bolland said he had dreams on Sunday after only becoming a second indigenous man to play crickets for Australia.
Experienced 32-year-old player was called as a cover of an injury after a second ash test and unexpectedly got a nod for the third match with Jhye Richardson, Michael Neser and Josh Hazlewood either did not fit or were resting.
He made use of most opportunities in Turf at Melbourne Cricket Ground, overcoming the initial nerves to take 1-48 as Australia Skittled England for 185 in the first round.
“That means a lot to join a beautiful little club and hopefully it’s only the beginning for the traditional community.
I just want to be a role model to encourage custom children to want to play cricket,” he said.
“Indigenous communities in AFL (Australian rules) and rugby are very large and hopefully one day Aboriginal in cricket can be as large.” Boand, which comes from the Golidjan tribe in the state of West Victoria, is the first customary man to play for Australia since Jason Gillespie, who won 71 hats and played his last test 15 years ago.
Four traditional players have won a test cap for Australia – Boland, Gillespie, Faith Thomas and Ashleigh Gardner.
“You hear athletes who say they saw Cathy Freeman in 2000 (at the Sydney Olympics) and it inspired them to become the next Olympics,” Australian custom advisory chair Cricket Justin Mohamed told reporters.
“Hopefully there will be six, eight or 10 years watching something like this (Boland) and say ‘that I want to do’.” “This is a wonderful day for Scott, this is an extraordinary day for Aborigin and Torres Strait Islanders,” he added.
272 Wicket Class One Boand has covered 42 in his last six matches on the land of Cricket Melbourne with an average of 14.4, which plays a big role in his call.
“Obviously I’m really excited when the finger rises,” he said after trapping Mark Wood LBW.
“I’m very happy and all my teammates really drove me …
(That) made it very special.”