australia cricket

‘Better Bowler Than I Was’: Australia Pacer Warns ‘Aggressive’ England Ahead of Ashes 2025

Sreejita Sen

Last updated: August 13, 2025

3 min read

Pacer Scott Boland has warned England who will be visiting Australia for an enthralling five-match Ashes series, starting on November 21. The 36-year-old recalled his performance in the previous Ashes series on English soil and hoped to put up an even better show in front of the home crowd this time.

“There were times in England where I bowled pretty well and just didn’t get a wicket. I’m a better bowler than I was back then. I’m going to be in our conditions that I know really, really well. I’m hoping to put in some good performances,” he said during an event in Melbourne.

Notably, the seamer is not a regular in the Aussies playing XI due to three of their great pace spearheads – captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. He has only appeared in eight red-ball fixtures since 2023. However, he had featured in the first and third Ashes Test against England in 2023 and snared two wickets.

Scott Boland on Australia’s Ashes 2025 Prospects

The hosts hold a massive record of winning 14 out of the latest 15 Ashes matches, which have been played in Australia. Despite having the edge, Boland acknowledged their arch-rivals’ “aggressive” run-scoring approach, popularly known as “Bazball.” But he also mentioned that the tracks of Australia would surely help them to keep the English batters in check.

“They’re going to play aggressively. If the wickets stay similar to what they’ve been over the last few years, I think we’re going to be in the game all the time,” stressed Boland.

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Boland also discussed the role of home pitches and conditions that come into play in a highly anticipated, five-match long series. He believes that the bowler-friendly wickets, compared to the more flat-tracks that they faced in their last tour of England, would surely allow the Aussies to have the upper hand over the visitors.

“There were little parts of the England tour last time, when the ball sort of moved around and favoured the bowlers, but generally over there, the wickets have been a bit flatter. And then when you come to Australia, certainly the last three or four years, they’ve been bowler friendly,” observed the seamer.

Boland on His Chances to Make It to Australia Playing XI

The bowler has brushed away his chances of replacing the veteran spinner Nathan Lyon in the Aussies lineup for the Ashes 2025. Notably, this rare incident occurred during the recent overseas day-night Test against the West Indies last month. This move saw Lyon get dropped in that format for the first time in the last 12 years.

However, Boland also had a memorable outing in that fixture as he claimed his maiden hat-trick in the red-ball format. The Aussies also thrashed the Caribbeans at their home for the second-lowest total (27) in Test cricket’s history.

“Nathan’s one of the best spin bowlers in the world, so I think he can bowl in any conditions. He’s probably been the glue to our bowling line-up over the last few years. And then I probably see Greeny [Cameron Green] coming back and bowling a lot more, he obviously hasn’t bowled for 12 months, so that probably hurts the chances of four quicks as well,” he added.

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