Scott Boland & the 'stolen generation'

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.

- SRIRAM VEERA

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.

Years later, Boland's uncle followed the 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 never spoke about Edwards' family.