A change to Scott Boland’s gym routine almost ended his Test playing dream
Cult hero Scott Boland has revealed how a slight change to his gym routine in the midst of a short BBL stint with the Stars could have ended his Test playing dream, DANIEL CHERNY writes.
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A change in Scott Boland’s gym regimen led to a frustrating year that could have cruelled his chances of a Test return.
Boland, 35, is poised to play in the Boxing Day Test following Josh Hazlewood’s latest injury. However, the Victorian spent much of the year on the sidelines and he arrived late for his county stint with Durham after dealing with knee and heel troubles that plagued him late in the Australian domestic season.
He didn’t even last a full game in the UK before being struck down with a plantar fascia issue.
The paceman has continued to wear knee strapping at training in recent months but has so far got through the Australian season.
The cult hero said the trouble started when he looked to tinker with his preparation in January during a rare Twenty20 stint with the Melbourne Stars.
“It was pretty much my fault because I changed a little thing in my gym program to just feel a bit more explosive going into those three T20 games I played,” Boland said.
“My body felt good during that (first) game, so I just kept doing these weighted jumps in the gym and they’re just not good for your knees.
“I didn’t really have a build-up to them. I just went straight into doing and doing and doing it. Then my knee got a bit sore, my foot got a bit sore.
“So it’s just tendon related. So now I know that I’ve sort of spoken about it a lot with SnCs (strength and conditioning staff), that we’ve still had a plan to bring those in but it’s just to manage my body better.”
Boland said the idea had been to feel more lively during a long build-up to night T20 games.
“Trap bar, 10 kilos on each side, just jumping as high as I can,’’ he said.
“Just sometimes, when you’re waiting around all day, your body feels slow or sluggish.
“When you wake up with the kids at 7am and a game doesn’t start until 7.30pm or so. I’m just sort of waiting around.
“So I just wanted to do a little primer gym session and I was doing that and my body felt good during those games.
“But just when I continued doing it, my knee got a little bit sore and then my foot as well.”
More Coverage
Originally published as A change to Scott Boland’s gym routine almost ended his Test playing dream
Crunch time: Khawaja struggles expose huge issue for Australia
Usman Khawaja has underwhelmed so far this series. Damning statistics underline just how much he’s struggled, but they also expose a wider problem for the Australian Test team.
Shastri: There is nowhere quite like the ‘G
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is a special place for Ravi Shastri, a venue at which he drove the Aussies nuts, in which drove an Audi and from which an Indian Test resurgence was born.