NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 26: Kevin Pietersen of England hits out as Adam Gilchrist of Australia watches on during day two of the Fourth npower Ashes Test between England and Australia played at Trent Bridge August 26, 2005 in Nottingham, United Kingdom. (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images)
Scott Boland's rapid rise to cricketing royalty has not spontaneously happened. Any cricketing tragic would know Boland has meticulously developed his robotic line and length over several years.
Boland leads the 2021/22 summer wickets column with 35 at 11.82 and has 129 at 20.47 from his last four summers, definitely not just a flash in the pan.
Boland finished his first test series with 18 wickets at 9.55. The last bowler to take 15 or more wickets at an average of less than 10 was Jim Laker in his famous 1956 series. Before that, it was Bobby Peel in 1888.
Below I have gone through history and looked at some of the most outstanding debut test series between Australia and England.
Before Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee formed the Terror Twins on Sunset Boulevard in the 1980s, the Australian cricket team had their own Terror Twins in Charles Turner and J.J. Ferris.
Turner and Ferris joined forces on debut in the 1886-87 summer and bowled England out for 45 on the first morning of their fairytale debut Test. Turner was the chief destroyer with 6/15 off 18 overs. In the second innings, Ferris bowled 61 (four-ball) overs for 5/76, and Australia lost the test by 13 runs trying to chase 110. Even though Ferris took 18 wickets at 13.50 and Turner took 17 at 9.47, Australia still lost the Ashes 2-0.
What happened next?
Charles 'The Terror' Turner became the greatest bowler in the world. He took 106 wickets in 11 matches during the 1887-88 Australian summer (a record), took 283 wickets at 11.27 from 36 first-class matches in Australia's tour of England, and became the first Australian test cricketer to take 100 wickets, finishing with 101 at 16.53 from 17 tests.
Charles Turner's first-class bowling statistics from 1886-1888: 59 matches, 470 wickets, 11.83 average, 52 five-wicket, 20 ten-wicket.
Ferris dominated England in their 1888 tour with 199 wickets at 14.74 and 186 wickets at 14.28 in 1890. After another summer in Australia, Ferris moved to England permanently in 1891 and joined an English tour to South Africa in 1891/92, becoming the third cricketer in history to play for two International teams, taking 13 wickets in his only Test for England.
Ferris came back to Australia in 1895/96 for three more matches, then enlisted in the British Army to fight in the Second Boer War and died from a seizure after being dishonorably discharged.
Now this one is for pub trivia.
There's only one Australian in history with a batting average higher than Don Bradman's with three or more Tests, and that's Albert Trott, who hit 205 runs at an average of 102.50.
After losing the first two Tests, Australia brought in the 21-year-old Trott, who scored 38 not out and 72 not out batting at number 10, then took 8/43 off 27 overs and was carried from the field on his teammate's shoulders.
Trott finished the Test series with 205 runs at 102.50 and nine wickets at 21.33, yet missed the Australian 1896 touring party to England. Strangely, the side was captained by his older brother Harry, and Albert joined the party to play as a professional in England.
What happened next?
Trott would have a fruitful career in England, taking 1531 wickets at 21.23. He is the only player in history to hit a ball over the Lord's pavilion, the second bowler in history to take two separate hat-tricks in the same innings, and played two Tests for England against South Africa, taking 17 wickets at 11.64.
Tragically, both Trott brothers suffered lengthy illnesses, Albert committed suicide penniless in London at 41-years-of-age and Harry spent time in the Kew Asylum after returning from the 1898 tour of England.
Frank Foster achieved so much for a first-class career that lasted only seven years. 6,548 runs at 26.61 from 159 matches, Foster was a devastating bowler with 717 wickets at 20.75. In 1911, before he toured Australia, Foster's supreme skill as an all-rounder was on the show, leading Warwickshire to their first County Championship title.
After losing their first Test in Sydney, England went on to win the next four, with Sydney Barnes and Foster claiming 66 victims between them. Foster's 32 wickets at 21.63 and 226 runs at 32.29 capped off a brilliant Ashes campaign down under. Foster bowled a leg theory in Australia, bowling his left-arm swingers around the wicket angling into the pads, akin to Mitchell Starc.
What happened next?
Foster played another 76 first-class matches, hitting two centuries including a 305, and took 330 wickets at 20.11. Foster's career was over at 25-years-of-age due to a war-time motorcycle accident.
Arthur Mailey was a leggie born in the wrong era.
Quoted as saying he would rather spin the ball prodigiously and get hit for runs than bowl a batter with an arm-ball, Mailey would fit perfectly in the limited-overs scene as a leg-spinning mercenary like Rashid Khan.
Making his debut at 32 years of age, Mailey had a bag full of tricks and deceived England with 36 wickets from the five Tests at 26.28 (Mailey didn't bowl in the Second Test). After 10/302 in the third Test in Adelaide, Mailey backed it up with 13/236 in Melbourne. This included 9/121 off 47 overs in the second innings (still the best bowling figures at the MCG more than 100 years later).
What happened next?
Mailey finished his career with 99 wickets at 33.91 from 21 Test Matches. He found himself with some flabbergasting statistics next to his name. In Australia's 1921 tour of England, Mailey took 10/66 against Gloucestershire (190 days after his nine-wicket bag against England) and conceded the most runs in one first-class innings.
On the 28th of December 1926, Mailey bowled 64 (8-ball overs) and finished with figures of 4/362. A known joker who never took himself too seriously, Mailey said his figures would've been better if he didn't have three catches dropped off his bowling...
"Two by a man in the pavilion wearing a bowler hat," and one by a teammate who Mailey consoled with words, "I'm expecting to take a wicket any day now".
With Lillee and Thomson breathing fire, the English selectors turned to the grey-haired batter in 33-year-old David Steele, who batted in spectacles and was reported as the best player of fast bowling in England.
The English crowd hungered for a player of Steele's courage, and the astute right-hander turned his selection into a coup with 365 runs at 60.83, including five half-centuries in only three tests.
What happened next?
The following summer, Steele took on the fearsome West Indian bowling attack, scored a century at Trent Bridge, and was overlooked for England's sub-continent tour in 1976-77, finishing his Test career with 673 runs at 42.06 from eight tests.
On the 9th of May 1977, Kerry Packer dropped a media bombshell announcing he had signed 35 of the best players in the world. Australia was completely drained of their talent and fielded their 'third XI' against England for their home summer. England won 5-1, yet Australia found a bright spark in Rodney Hogg, who finished the Ashes with 41 wickets at 12.85. Without Lillee, Thomson, Walker, and Pascoe, the blonde-tearaway quick took 6/74 on debut, and by his third test, Hogg had 27 wickets at an average of 11.
What happened next?
Hogg played another 32 test matches taking only 82 wickets at 36.29. He struggled to reach the lofty level he achieved in 1978/79. Hogg was never too far away from controversy. He had a run-in with two of his captains (Kim Hughes & Graham Yallop) and joined the Rebels tour in 1985-86 to South Africa.
In two tours to England in 1981 and 1989, Terry Alderman claimed 83 victims at 19.33 with 10 five-wicket hauls from only 12 tests. Before the 1981 Ashes, Alderman had four First Class five-wicket hauls from 47 matches; this was doubled on his 1981 tour of England. 4/68 and 5/69 on Test debut, Alderman's performance of 42 wickets at 21.26 is overlooked by Botham's brilliance.
What happened next?
Soon after in Australia, Alderman famously hurt his shoulder attempting to apprehend a pitch invader in the 1982/83 Ashes and forced his way back in the Australian side after a lengthy rehab stint, finishing with 170 wickets at 27.15 from 41 Tests. One can only fathom what Alderman's test record would look like if he was born in England; he took 370 wickets at 20.21 from 83 matches in the 'Old Blighty.'
No cricketer typified the swagger and over-confidence of gen-x like Kevin Pietersen. In every sense of the word, a trailblazer, 'KP' would have stuck out like a sore thumb in the gentleman era of English cricket before World War II.
Arguably the most incredible modern-day English batter, Pietersen was thrown into the cauldron of fire in 2005. With great belief in his ability to wield the willow, Pietersen already had 5,936 First-Class runs at 52.53, including 21 centuries before his test selection.
With peroxide blonde hair dyed in the middle of his hair resembling a skunk, Pietersen walked out to the middle of Lords, 3/18 down facing a fired-up Glenn McGrath...he top-scored with 57 off 89 deliveries. Pietersen polished off three half-centuries in his first three Test innings, suffered a quiet patch in the 2nd and 3rd Test, and finished with man-of-the-match honors with 158 off 187 balls, including seven sixes in the last test to solidify England's Ashes win.
What happened next?
'KP' would go on to win three more Ashes series before retiring after England's 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Mitchell Johnson in 2013/14. Pietersen finished his decorated career in 2014 with 8,181 Test Runs at 47.28, 4,440 ODI runs at 40.73, and 1,176 T20I runs at 37.93.
21 Australian and English batsmen have hit a century on Ashes debut. The last one to achieve this feat was Jonathan Trott (no relation to Albert and Harry).
Charles Bannerman's 165 not out in the historic first Test match in 1877. Bannerman hit 67.35% of Australia's total of 245 and had to retire hurt with a broken finger.
Arguably the most awaited debut in cricket history, the father of modern cricket, W.G. Grace, made his debut in the first Test on English soil in 1880. With 20,748 runs at 49.52 from 279 matches, including 62 centuries and 1445 wickets at 14.20 under his belt, the 'Doctor' lived up to the hype with 152 off 294 balls and guided his chargers down the order to lead them to one of their most famous victories.
Imagine if the captain of England's National Soccer Team, Harry Kane, came out this Ashes series and made 287 not out on Test debut. This is what happened to Reginald 'Tip' Foster in the first Test of the 1903/04 Ashes Series.
Arriving at the wicket with England 4/117 on Day 2, Foster cruised to 73 not out at stumps. By the time England reached 8/332, Foster had passed Bannerman's highest score on debut, and a 10th wicket partnership of 130 with Wilfred Rhodes saw Foster accumulate 287 runs in 419 minutes, including 37 fours. Foster's total of 486 runs is still the highest by a cricketer in their Ashes Test series debut.
Five bowlers have taken 10 wickets for the match on Test debut in the Ashes. Bob Massie burst onto the scene, took 16/137 at Lords, then disappeared inside a year, without a trace. Fred Martin was brought in for the second Test of the 1890 Ashes due to fellow left-arm spinner Johnny Briggs's injury and Bobby Peel, who wasn't allowed to play by Yorkshire.
Martin opened the bowling on day one and took 6/52 in both innings finishing with 12/104. Martin's performance was no surprise to the selectors, as Martin had 32 wickets at 11.44 from four matches against the touring Australians before his debut.