- Scott Boland ready to play MCG Test for Australia
- Boland has been struggling with injuries throughout 2024
- A small change in exercise routine caused problems
Australian bowler Scott Boland has revealed how a small tweak to his gym training routine almost ruined his cricket career by seriously injuring his knees.
Boland, 35, is preparing for a triumphant return to the Test team in front of his home MCG crowd on Boxing Day, three years after his excellent debut at the famous ground in 2021.
However, the paceman has had a shocking year as he battles knee and heel injuries, sidelining him from the sport he loves.
Boland says the problems started when he decided to change his preparation for a T20 match in January by playing for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League.
“It was mostly my fault because I changed a little thing in my gym program so I felt a bit more explosive in the three T20 matches I played,” Boland said. News Corp.
“My body felt good during that (first) competition, so I just kept doing those weighted jumps in the gym and they’re just not good for your knees.
Scott Boland (pictured playing for Australia against India in Adelaide this month) almost derailed his career by adding weighted jumps to his training routine
Boland says he made the switch because he wanted to be a bit more explosive, but he ended up injuring himself
“I didn’t really have a build-up for them. I just immediately continued doing and doing and doing. Then my knee got a little sore, my foot got a little sore.
‘So it’s just tendon-related. So now I know I’ve talked about it a lot with S&Cs [strength and conditioning staff]that we still had a plan to get those in, but it’s just to manage my body better.”
Boland did weighted jumps with a stair bar — a barbell with a diamond-shaped frame that people can stand in while using a variety of lifts — to feel more energetic during the lead-up to a competition.
“Trap bar, 20 pounds on each side, just jumping as high as I can,” he said.
“I just wanted to do a little gym session and I did that and my body felt good during those games.
“But just as I was going through with it, my knee started to bother me a bit and then my foot.”
The Victorian can legitimately claim to be one of Australia’s unluckiest players this century.
His average of 20.42 is the fifth best of all Australian bowlers with 40 or more wickets.
Boland (pictured with wife Daphne) is set to return in front of his MCG home crowd for the Boxing Day Test
But such is the dominance of Australia’s three big pacers – Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood – that he has been selected for just 11 of the 34 Tests since his spectacular 2021 Boxing Day debut against England.
Hazlewood’s latest injury is Boland’s luck.
“I’d be surprised if he (Boland) doesn’t get another crack at some point,” Cummins said of Boland before the third Test against India at the Gabba.
‘[We’ve told him] it’s just about preparing for the MCG because there’s a good chance we’ll need you.
‘History suggests that there is always some form of natural attrition during a Test series.
“So the good thing is he’s probably played a Test earlier in the series than he thought he was coming into it. He has shown that his level is still super high.
“You know he’s going to take wickets against those guys, so it’s about getting him ready for the last two Test matches.”