How Scott Boland discovered his aboriginal roots in his mid-20s and became an inspiration for the indigenous groups in Australia | Cricket News
Only in his mid-20s, did the 35-year old Scott Boland, Australia’s fast bowler set to play in the fourth Test against India, realise his aboriginal origins. It started with his uncle remembering the secretive whispers of Boland’s grandmother hushing up her husband. Paul Stewart, Boland’s life-mentor, a proud Taungurung man who worked with Cricket Australia as their indigenous cricket expert, recalls Boland’s family talking about those difficult memories. “The story goes that whenever his grandfather Jack had a few drinks, he would start talking about Colac, home to aboriginal tribes of Gulidjan and Gadubanud people. And his wife would tell him, ‘shut up Jack, shut up’.
Years later, Boland’s uncle followed that memory trail, dug around, and found that Jack’s real name was ‘Alexander John Wyn’ whose mother died shortly after his birth. He grew up with an aunt, but was then adopted by a family named Edwards. He joined the army and became a printer after retirement, but until his death, he supposedly never spoke about Edwards family.
“Scott’s grandfather was possibly a kid of the ‘stolen generation’; I don’t know if he was forcibly removed but growing up as an aboriginal in the 60s was a very tough time. We didn’t have voting rights. Babies were taken away from aboriginal women,” says Stewart.
Every country has its dark guilt and this was Australia’s. From the early 19th century till 1970 Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families as part of the Australian government plan to assimilate them into the dominant non-indigenous population. The establishment had ill-treated the indigenous population so much so that in 2008 the government, under the prime ministership of Kevin Rudd, issued a formal apology to the “stolen generations”.
Stewart ran into a young Boland and his brother during an annual cricket tournament he ran for the aboriginal players. “He wanted to know about his roots and it set the ball rolling.” In 2018, Stewart had taken Boland, the fourth aboriginal man to don the Baggy Green to Harrow, the spiritual cricket home of aboriginal cricketers. Stewart remembers the usually-composed Boland getting emotional. It was at a special dinner at Harrow, a small town halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide, home of Johnny Mullagh, the most popular Aboriginal player who starred in Australia’s first ever tour of England in 1868.
“That experience of that private quiet dinner was the most touching moment for him. I remember him saying, “It’s so amazing that I have the privilege of carrying their names and I got to meet their descendants”. In 2018, the Boland brothers had made it to the Australian Aboriginal team that toured England to commemorate the first-ever tour. Each player was given a name to ‘carry’ on the tour, name of a player from the original 1868 tour. Scott was given the name Gulligan from the player from the original team Yellanach aka Johnny Cuzens. His brother Nick represented Gronggarrong (Mosquito).
“Mosquito and Cuzens were brothers just like the Bolands. During our visit to Harrow before going on tour – Nick got to meet Aunty Fiona Clarke (descendent of Mosquito) who designed the walkabout wickets artwork logo which was used in out touring uniforms,” Stewart says. “Scott also had the opportunity to meet Aunty Vicki and Ashley Couzens (descendent of J Cuzens). Boland was so moved that he would tell Stewart: ‘This is a true wow factor that I will carry into this tour and for the rest of my life’.
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An 18-year old Boland was chubby, weighing 118 kgs. He used to work part-time as a bartender at Doyle’s hotel at a beachside suburb of Melbourne and drive a car scattered with fast-food wrappers. A couple of years later, in 2009, at his Frankston Peninsula cricket club’s ‘Meet the Coach’ day, the head coach Nick Jewell gave him the hard frank talk: “You want to play for the first team more but you won’t under me, until you show me how much you really want it.” The deal was that if Boland lost at least five kgs, he would be given a chance to play in the main team’s game.
Boland was called ‘Barrel’, an obvious reference to his size. He requested his mother to give him soup as main food, and he kept his side of the deal, losing those kgs. So did the coach, and Boland’s career began to slowly come on track. In four months, he lost almost 10 kgs as he turned serious about his game. Under Jewell’s tutelage, he learned to cut the ball away from the left-handers from round the stumps, a strength of his now.
On Thursday, he would return to the MCG where he had exploded into the Australian public’s imagination with a 6 for 7 dream haul against England on his debut in December 2021 in a Boxing Day Test. In just four overs. His team-mates would try to make him hold up the ball but the shy ‘Scotty’ just threw the ball to the umpire, even as nearly a lakh fans kept screaming, “Scotty Scotty!”. A cult-hero was born, almost despite himself.
“That’s him,” says his mentor Stewart. “Apart from that Harrow meeting episode, I haven’t seen him too emotional. Never seen him angry. Always a soft voice. He is not the one to sledge or even chirp on a field. He just bowls and walks away.”
It must have helped him cope with the reality of being in the squad but never getting a chance because of the presence of the troika: Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, and Josh Hazlewood. “Oh yes, definitely. I would joke with him whose hammy or knee he wants me to twist, and all I would get is a shake of head and a smile. But for sure, as a professional athlete, it must be pretty frustrating but he wouldn’t show. He just waits for his opportunity.” Boland is intimate with waiting: for his time to play in the first team at his club, for a spot in the first-class team of Victoria, for the national selectors to give him a call, and for a rare chance to be in Australia’s eleven. Or for that matter, getting to know about his Aboriginal roots.
As part of the education, Boland started visiting the historical places sacred to aboriginals in Western Districts. Waterholes, communities, and eventually he found his way to Harrow, where Mullagh museum is now the pride of the town.
“We would initially talk about how perhaps, it was the decision of the grandfather not to tell anyone about his heritage. Because of so many challenges that we face. I remember telling Scott, ‘Mate, you are really lucky because so many other families are not so lucky’. That stuck with him and he wanted to learn more and how he can help the other more disadvantaged kids. He would talk about how to embrace the culture,” Stewart says. “We would go to the Western districts, talk to the aboriginal families there, and be welcomed by them.”
Scott’s reserved nature doesn’t seem to make him a natural choice to be a cult hero for the cricketing fans or for the native people. “But that’s the thing that has appealed to the cricketing section. As for the aboriginal kids, nothing greater than seeing someone like him play for Australia. Deeds, more than words, move people.”
On his debut, when she gave the Mullagh medal to the man of the match Boland, the pride was visible in an emotional Belinda Duarte, the first indigenous member of MCG Trust and a descendant of Dick-a-Dick, a team-mate of Mullagh on that historic first tour. “Some would even say the old people have had something to do with this,” she said. “We carry our old people everywhere. There were so many indicators today that they were by his side.” Stewart hopes they will be with Boland again against India in yet another Boxing day Test at the MCG. “Imagine, 90,000 people yelling ‘Scotty’ and he once again gets that Mullagh medal”.
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