Quick hits: Boland’s rain-soaked brilliance and a touching family moment

Source : ABC NEWS

Scott Boland makes a destructive return to the team and a South African debutant has a touching family moment as rain plays spoilsport in Gqeberha.

Here are the quick hits from day one of the second Test between Australia and South Africa.

1. Boland’s immediate impact

With a Test bowling average under 19 and with 82 wickets from his 19 matches before today, Scott Boland may well be the best bowler to have never nailed down a spot in his country’s first-choice XI.

Of course, that’s through no fault of his own — the four bowlers ahead of him just happen to be Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon.

But the upside of being the team’s fifth-choice bowler and fourth-choice seamer is that Boland is, injuries aside, usually only called upon when the conditions are apocalyptic enough to allow for an all-out pace attack.

And Boland would have been licking his lips as he arrived on day one.

Overcast skies, intermittent rain, and a pitch almost indistinguishable from the surrounding turf meant Boland would take Lyon’s place in the team.

Surprisingly, however, the wicket didn’t appear to be whole, offering a whole lot during Starc and Hazlewood’s rain-interrupted opening salvo.

But that all changed with Boland’s introduction — the seamer managing to extract some movement during his first over and then wickets in his second.

First, he had Aiden Markram bowled through the gate to one that jagged back viciously off the pitch, then he had David Bedingham caught behind with the very next ball.

What else would you expect?

2. Chris Gaffaney goes down

A man conspicuously absent on day one was veteran Kiwi umpire Chris Gaffaney.

Originally down to stand in his 71st Test, Gaffaney was a late withdrawal after a battle with food poisoning, opening the door for hometown boy Arno Jacobs to make a fairytale Test debut less than a month after umpiring in his first ODI.

Jacobs spent much of his 144-game First Class career in the Eastern Cape, during which he averaged 38.08 as a versatile middle-order batter.

Gaffaney, for what it’s worth, averaged 33.41 with the bat during his domestic red-ball career.

3. Ackerman’s touching moment

If it wasn’t for all the rain, you’d call it a baptism by fire.

With inclement weather having delayed the start of play by two hours, 30-year-old South African debutant Marques Ackerman strode out to open the batting on what looked to be a seaming green top and against four of the very finest bowlers in the world.

It was nightmare-inducing stuff — but Ackerman was compact and composed to begin his innings, looking relatively unfazed by Australia’s opening barrage.

The only thing missing was a run.

And with drizzle setting in once again during the sixth over of the day, you could tell Ackerman was anxious to get off the mark before the covers returned to the field.

The South African proceeded to nudge a single through gully, receive a warm round of applause, and promptly leave the field as the rain grew heavier.

On his way from the middle, the broadcast cameras caught a lovely moment as a relieved Ackerman located his wife and young child in the crowd, with the three exchanging smiles and waves all the way back to the pavilion.

4. The band plays on

Day one was frustrating for those in attendance at St George’s Park.

But through the rain, dreariness, and disappointment, the ground’s famous brass band played on.

Their spirited performance didn’t quite make up for the frankly laughable 12.2 overs bowled on day one — but it provided a rather jaunty soundtrack to the Gqeberha malaise.