After a false start, Scott Boland has bowled exceptionally well in Ashes 2025.
Before the Ashes 2025 start, Australia knew that England wouldn’t change their methods on Australian pitches, and their biggest target was again going to be Scott Boland, who excels in home conditions like no other. In the Ashes 2023, England had countered him by coming down the track to disturb his lengths, as the bowler could only take two wickets and conceded 4.91 runs per over across four innings.
When the Perth Test of Ashes 2025 saw a similar picture unfolding, Alex Carey decided to come up to the stumps to restrict English batters from using their feet, something no other wicketkeeper had done to Scott Boland in the domestic arena. He bowls in the high 130s, so the wicketkeepers don’t usually think of doing it, especially on bouncy pitches where domestic competitions are played.
As it turned out, the move paid dividends, as Boland instantly found success in the second innings of the game and hasn’t looked back since. The Australian pacer has now revealed that the head coach, Andrew McDonald, already asked him to prepare for bowling with the wicketkeeper up, which he didn’t feel comfortable with initially, but eventually understood the need.
“I remember speaking to (McDonald) on the phone, and he said, ‘Just get your head around maybe bowling with a keeper up to the stumps, because their batters like to move around the crease a lot’. If we can get them camped where you want them to be, at least you know where they’re going to be and the length you’re going to bowl. But because I’ve never really had it before, I just didn’t really feel comfortable with it. As a fast bowler, you don’t really like seeing the keeper up the stumps. But I’ve seen over the last month how effective it is and how still I can keep their batters by Alex being up to the stumps.”
Once Alex Carey decided to stand up to the stumps, English batters couldn’t use their feet to move out of their crease as consistently as they would otherwise. In Ashes 2023, England batters played around 16.37% of Scott Boland’s deliveries while coming down the track, but it has reduced to 8.72% in Ashes 2025.
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It has allowed him to hold his usual length ball more often: bowling 83.27% of length balls this series, compared to only 61.67% in Ashes 2023. Since he knows batters are unlikely to charge down the track as often, he avoids missing short altogether – bowling only 14.54% back-of-length or short deliveries this time, down sharply from 37.63% in 2023.
Obviously, the pitches have also played a role, and there’s a sense of familiarity for Scott Boland in the home Ashes. However, England had sent an early warning in the first innings of the first Test, where, on a bowling paradise, he ended up giving 6.20 runs per over.
Carey’s ploy has reaped ample success for Scott Boland, who had to shelve his fast-bowler’s ego to sit at 11 wickets at 28.09 runs apiece currently. As much credit as Carey deserves for his sharp glove work, Australia’s head coach, Andrew McDonald, also needs to be praised for pre-planning and making the bowler understand the importance of wickets over ego.
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