Jon Holland to make his international debut after the passport dash

Left-arm spinner Jon Holland admits his sinking feeling while he got the call from the chief of Australia’s national selection panel Rod Marsh last Thursday. He is supposed to make his international debut in the must-win second Test match against Sri Lanka at Galle.

Holand was preparing himself to take part in the Australia A series against South Africa A. He also realized that a week earlier his Australian passport had passed its use-by date and he thus board the first available plane for Colombo, via Singapore and then made the 100km road trip to Galle.

“It’s not something that I’m really checking every day,” the 29-year-old left-arm spinner explained after arriving at Galle. “I went back to Melbourne (where he lives), I had to renew it – it had expired.”

Jon Holland sends one down to the Aussie skipper in the Galle nets #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/qJe0AaTV9p

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) August 2, 2016

A Double Irony for Jon Holland:

Steve O’Keefe, who featured in the first Test match was quite good with the ball but he caught an injury during the third day of Test in Kandy, which Australia went on to lose by 106 runs. Even though much details regarding O’Keefe’s injury is unknown, the call for Holland makes it quite evident that he would not be fit for the second Test.

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Considering the fact that, Holland was selected for the Australia A side just because of the injury to Ashton Agar, who will require major surgery that is expected to keep him on the sidelines for several months.

“Obviously, I will be a little bit nervous if I do get a chance to play,” Holland said prior to Australia’s pre-Test training session at the southern Sri Lankan port city today.

“I have worked hard on my bowling the last couple of years. I am pretty comfortable with where my bowling’s at, hopefully, if I do get a chance I can get myself into the game and get a couple of results.”

Galle ? #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/PCwTUxoVJr

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) August 2, 2016

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Experience in sub-continents:

Holland said that he has experienced the subcontinent conditions and just needed to get the feel of it with the training. “I’ve been over here (Sri Lanka) a couple of times, I’ve been to India a couple of times, so I have been exposed to these conditions,” Holland said.

“But it’s been a while since I have been here, so I will have to get a bit of a feel for it at training and things like that. I guess it was in the back of my mind that time (to win an international call-up) was getting away from me.”

“But I really enjoy playing cricket for Victoria, they’ve stuck with me through three shoulder injuries and supported me and given me the chance to play cricket,” said the 29-year old.

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“I have to thank them. It’s here now, it’s all a bit surreal still and I will just have to wait and see if I do get the chance to play,” he thanked his domestic team for all of their support over the years.

When asked if he had seen any of Rangana Herath’s immaculate spells in the series opener, he said, “He (Herath) just bowls on the spot and knows how to subtly change his spin and variations and pace, and that sort of thing.”

“I think just about every time he bowls the ball it’s hitting the stumps, which is a big positive. I try to take a bit of that on board, and try to do the same as that,” he concluded.