Scott Boland waited 17 months for a Test call-up. Now arrived, it could be fleeting.
Boland will replace injured paceman Josh Hazlewood in Australia's team for the second Test against India starting on Friday in Adelaide.
The last of Boland's 10 Tests was in early July last year in the Ashes series in England.
The 35-year-old has since been in the Test shadows given the continued fitness - and excellence - of Australia's big three fast bowlers, captain Pat Cummins, Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.
And the bad news for Boland is Hazlewood, who will miss the Adelaide fixture because of a side strain, is likely to return for the third Test in Brisbane starting on December 14.
"Pretty confident for Brisbane," Cummins said on Thursday of Hazlewood's prospects.
"He had a good bowl yesterday, only three-quarters (pace), maybe a bit more than that, but went beautifully."
A sore Hazlewood was shielded late in Australia's 295-run loss to India in the series opener in Perth.
"It's probably the right call in hindsight," Cummins said.
"In previous years we just kept bowling him and it has probably turned that one-week injury into a three-, four-, five-week injury, whereas this year seems a little bit different."
Boland was always the favoured replacement for Hazlewood.
He has 35 wickets at an average of 20.34 from his 10 Tests, and in two day-nighters has seven wickets at 13.71.
"All last summer he was geared up to go and no one fell over (injured)," Cummins said.
"Obviously he had a good little hit-out in Canberra a couple days ago as well, so his prep has been really good and he's happy with how it's coming out and his rhythm.
"As a captain, it's pretty awesome for someone like Scotty to come straight in - he can bowl a huge amount of overs if you need, and he's super-consistent, he has performed at this level, so he looks ready to go."
