No Green envy in Boland's instant success

If it wasn't utterly foreign to his humble nature, Cameron Green might have gazed upon Scott Boland's 'instant' success as a Test bowler and felt a shade of envy commensurate with his surname.

After all, Green had arrived on the Test scene a year earlier and laboured through four matches against India's formidable batters at whom he fired down 44 overs without celebrating a single wicket.

Then, at the MCG last week, the 22-year-old allrounder was a close onlooker as Boland – in just his third day as a Test cricketer – seemed unable to deliver the ball 22 yards without claiming an England scalp as he pocketed 6-7 from four of the most remarkable overs the game has seen.

It might have caused Green to wonder precisely what ill-fortune had befallen him to make his own arrival on the international scene so barren by comparison ... if the wheel had not already dramatically turned in his favour.

That's because, by the time Boland began his day three rout in Melbourne, Green had not only collected that prized first wicket but had added a further four to his career aggregate before interrupting his teammate's dream run to finish the Boxing Day Test in style.

And, by crashing the ball into James Anderson's stumps to end England's misery, ensure Australia's retention of the Ashes into the deal.

As it stands, midway through the fourth Vodafone Test, Boland boasts Australia's skinniest bowling average (nine wickets at 8.88) followed closely by Green whose eight scalps this series have come at 12.62 apiece.

Furthermore, from not being able to buy a wicket in his debut Test summer, the towering right-armer now poses a genuine threat to rival batters every time he takes the ball as shown by his list of victims which includes England top-order mainstays Joe Root and Ben Stokes (each twice) and Dawid Malan (once).

The improvement in Green's bowling has not been as sudden or unforeseen as Boland's evolution into giant killer, but former Australia Test captain Ricky Ponting believes a decisive difference has been the addition of consistency and confidence to an already formidable armoury.

"I've loved what he's done with his angles," Ponting told cricket.com.au today.

"He's used his angles really well to left-handers and right-handers, he's been around the wicket a lot to the left-handers.

"He is bowling a fraction quicker than he was last year.

"He's getting more bounce (and) that's a reflection of the wickets they've played on.

"Both of those things – when you're bowling a little bit quicker and getting a bit of extra bounce – generally means you're more confident in yourself.

"He's played a lot more games now, he's not leaking runs, he's challenging batters, he's taking wickets.

"As far as his bowling is concerned, he should be as confident as he ever has been in his life outside of what he's done in first-class cricket."

As the arrival of Boland – hardly an overnight sensation at age 32, even though he's played a quarter the number of Tests as Green – underscores, international success is built on a foundation of understanding one's game.

Boland arrived at the MCG, the ground where he played much of his decade-long senior career, with almost 80 first-class matches under his belt and having delivered more than 2,500 overs for 270 wickets.

By contrast, Green received his Baggy Green Cap prior to last summer's opening Test against India having not long turned 21 – the same number of first-class appearances he'd made since early 2017 in which he'd captured 33 wickets.

So it's hardly surprising given that disparity in experience, not to mention Boland's specialist fast-bowling skillset (Green also happened to average 55 with the bat across those first 21 matches) and the gulf in batting acumen between India and England, that he went 287 deliveries in Test cricket before he got on the board as a bowler.

"He's only a very young player, and I was very fortunate to coach him at Western Australia when he was 16 years old," Australia men's team coach Justin Langer said this evening after Green finished day three at the SCG with 1-24 as well as hitting Stokes's stumps only for the bails to remain intact.

"I always felt he was a tall version of Shaun Pollock, his young action looked that way.

"He's got a massive upside with all his cricket, you see it with his batting and bowling and the way he fields in the gully, he's an amazing athlete.

"But I think last year, because he'd come off a couple of stress fractures in his back and he was thinking probably more about his bowling action or technique than he was about taking wickets.

"It's a bit like a young batsman, when you start thinking about your technique you stop watching the ball.

"He's got a bit more confidence in his body now, and what a prospect.

"He comes from so high (with his bowling action), he's got great skills and he's a good competitor."

If there is a trait Green does share with Boland, it is genuine humility.

Just as Boland looked embarrassed by the adulation he received from fans at the MCG and then replicated today in Sydney after he removed Root for a duck (thereby pocketing figures of 8-7 from his past eight overs in Tests), Green was similarly apologetic upon snaring his maiden wicket in Brisbane.

As skipper Pat Cummins revealed that day at the Gabba, as his teammates rejoiced his milestone moment following a summer of thankless toil against India, Green's self-conscious response was to say sorry for what he felt was an over-zealous and indulgent on-field celebration.

"Greeny's a beauty, he's just so polite," Cummins noted at the time.

But while nobody expects Boland's batting average to ever escalate much beyond the 8.88 he currently boasts with the ball, Green's challenge is to have his both his specialist skills singing in unison.

His batting became increasingly assured against India, finishing the four-Test series as Australia's third-highest runs scorer with 236 at 33.71 with a best of 84.

But this summer he's struggled against England's experienced seamers and is averaging 14.25 from five innings with the unbeaten 33 he scored in the second dig at Adelaide accounting for most of his 57-run aggregate.

When the confidence and consistency he's discovered with the ball also manifests itself with bat in hand, Ponting believes Australia will understand why Green's arrival in the Test set-up was met with such anticipation last summer.

"What he's done with the Baggy Green cap on this summer with the ball has been just brilliant," Ponting said.

"You've only got to look at the way that he starts his spells – he always starts really well.

"For a young bloke … that's a sign of someone that's confident in himself.

"If he can take that and transfer that across to his batting and start backing himself in the same manner, that's when we're going to see the real emergence of Cameron Green."

HCL Vantage Point: Ricky Ponting on England 'fighting fire with fire'

"I said (England) needed him (Stokes) to puff his chest out and be that tall, imposing, threatening figure at the crease.

"Because we can see when he does play well that like that, he is very good. But when he goes back into his shell and just tries to defend and play situations in games differently than his instincts (tell) him to, then he just becomes the same as anybody else.

"So he was the one that definitely started it today and Johnny was able to feed off some of that.

"Ben's a well and truly entrenched player in the England team and Johnny's not, so it makes it easier for someone like Stokes who is comfortable in his skin and comfortable in his spot in the team to play that way.

"When you're just back in the side and struggling to keep yourself in there, it's another thing to throw caution to the wind and play like Bairstow did.

"So (it was) gutsy from both of them – physically for Stokes, but it was more mental courage from Bairstow to stand up and say 'I'm going to fight fire with fire'."

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