Scott Boland gears up for WTC25 final amid injury recovery

Australia pacer Scott Boland has set his sights on the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final against South Africa at the home of cricket, Lord’s, which will be played from 11 June.

The one-off Test will be played at the iconic London venue from 11 to 15 June 2025, with 16 June available as a reserve day if required.

While speaking during Cricket Australia’s men’s schedule reveal for 2025-26, Boland remained optimistic about his place in the team for the final.

“I’ve had my eye on that game since we qualified in January, so yeah I’ll be doing everything I can over the next two or three months to make sure I’m right for that game on June 11,” the pacer stated.

The right-arm pacer was instrumental in Australia’s success in the WTC23 final, taking five wickets across two innings against India’s formidable batting lineup.

This was the first time that Australia won the WTC final, thanks to Boland, who returned with figures of 3-46, removing Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja to guide the Aussies to a memorable win at the Oval.

The 35-year-old has also been in brilliant bowling form in the most recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He stepped up in the absence of key pacer Josh Hazlewood, who was ruled out due to injury after the first two games.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Boland took 21 wickets and emerged as the third-highest wicket-taker in the series, with Australia winning the five-match series 3-1.

He sustained a knee injury during Australia’s premier domestic tournament, the Sheffield Shield, and is currently undergoing rehab.

Scott Boland highlighted the break during the injury, stressing the need to be fit in time for this year’s much-anticipated Australian blockbuster cricket season.

“I think it’s just working out what’s working and what doesn’t. I’ve only had this knee injury for eight to 10 months. I think we’re going about it the right way. I’ll have a little break now, ” he said.

“But once I do get up and going, I’m hoping to just go really smoothly and if everything goes well, I’ll be right to go for that one Test in England and those three Tests in the Caribbean.”

“And then after that, have another break again, and then sort of built my strengths and bowling loads again before the huge summer cricket next year, ” the pacer further remarked.

READ: Jakub Mensik upsets Novak Djokovic to win Miami Open

Pakistan, India lead the way in WTC25 standings after Ashes sanctions

DUBAI: England and Australia had points deducted from their tally due to a slow over-rate in the Ashes series, which affected the World Test Championship (WTC25) standings.

The gap at the top of the ICC World Test Championship standings has further widened significantly after England and Australia were hit with sanctions at the end of the Ashes.

England were docked 19 points and Australia 10 points as a penalty for slow over-rate across the series as they fell further down the WTC25 standings.

As a result, Asian neighbours Pakistan and India lead the way in the standings, firmly occupying the top two spots after an unbeaten start to WTC25.

Pakistan have made a perfect start to the 2023-25 campaign with a point percentage of 100 after their clean sweep against Sri Lanka. After a closely fought first Test, Babar Azam’s men dominated the hosts with a thumping innings victory in the second Test.

Closely tailing them are India in the second spot with 66.66%, who have a win and a draw against their name after their series against West Indies.

India set the tone with a massive innings win in the first Test but rain dampened their hopes of a clean sweep in the second Test that ended in stalemate.

Before the sanctions, England and Australia had 26 points each and a point percentage of 43.33. After the penalties, Australia dropped to 30% while England plummeted to 15%, taking them below West Indies at 16.67%.

Having been whitewashed 2-0 at home, Sri Lanka are at the bottom with 0 points. Bangladesh, New Zealand and South Africa are yet to kickstart their campaign in the current iteration of the WTC25.

Adding to the misery, Australia lost their top spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Rankings as England made an impressive comeback from 2-0 to 2-2 in the Ashes. Tied on 118 points, India are on top on decimal points (118.4 points) as Australia (117.8) drop to second.

England are closing in on top after gaining one point from the drawn series, moving to 115 points.

READ: India blow away West Indies in decider to seal ODI series

A responsible overview of casino magic online argentina should keep expectations realistic and highlight policy clarity. Focus on withdrawals, limits, and KYC requirements first, then assess mobile performance and provider lineup. Promotions can be optional; wagering and expiry terms matter more than headlines. 18+ only; set strict limits.

Voor spelers die waarde hechten aan eerlijke feedback en praktijkervaringen is https://theslotzcasino.nl/spelersrecensies een nuttige ingang. De pagina legt de nadruk op gebruikerservaring, uitbetalingen, bonusvoorwaarden en klantenservice. Daardoor ontstaat een duidelijker beeld van hoe het casino in het dagelijks gebruik aanvoelt, vooral voor bezoekers die niet alleen naar promoties kijken maar ook naar betrouwbaarheid en speelcomfort.