Aussie cricket star Scott Boland reveals how he almost ruined his cricket career by making one TINY change to his workout routine
Australian bowler Scott Boland has revealed how a small tweak to his workout routine in the gym almost ruined his cricket career by seriously injuring his knees.
Boland, 35, is preparing to make a triumphant return to the Test team in front of his home MCG crowd on Boxing Day, three years after his outstanding debut at the famous ground in 2021.
However, the paceman has had a shocking year struggling with knee and heel injuries that have left him sidelined from the sport he loves.
Boland says the trouble started when he decided to change his preparation for a T20 match in January wile playing for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League.
‘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 told News Corp.
‘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.
Scott Boland almost (pictured playing for Australia against India in Adelaide this month) almost derailed his career by adding weighted jumps to his workout routine
Boland says he made the switch because he wanted to be a bit more explosive – but he only ended up injuring himself
‘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 S&Cs [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 was doing weighted jumps with a trap bar – a barbell with a diamond-shaped frame people can stand inside of while doping a variety of lifts – to feel more energetic during the build-up to a match.
‘Trap bar, 10 kilos on each side, just jumping as high as I can,’ he said.
‘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.’
The Victorian can rightly claim to be one of Australia’s unluckiest players this century.
His average of 20.42 is the fifth-best of any Australian bowler with 40 or more wickets.
Boland (pictured with wife Daphne) is poised to return in front of his MCG home crowd for the Boxing Day Test
But such is the dominance of Australia’s big-three quicks – Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood – he has only been picked for 11 of the 34 Tests since his spectacular 2021 Boxing Day debut against England.
Hazlewood’s latest injury is Boland’s good fortune.
‘I would 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 is a good chance we might need you.
‘History suggests there is always some form of natural attrition throughout a Test series.
‘So the good thing, he’s probably played a Test earlier in the series than he thought coming into it. He’s shown that his standard is still super high.
‘You know he is going to take wickets against those guys, so it’s about trying to set him up for the last two Test matches.’
