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Doug Bollinger was viewed as a matchwinner before one bad Ashes Test changed the course of his career.
The abrasive left-arm paceman’s first 11 Tests had seen him pillage 49 wickets at an average of 23.
The selectors rated him so highly they rushed him back into the Test side after the second match of the 2010-11 Ashes series at Adelaide.
Bollinger had been out of action for almost two months due to a stomach strain he suffered in the preceding Test tour of India.
Clearly lacking match fitness, Bollinger battled through 29 overs in that Adelaide Test as England racked up 5-620 in their sole innings.
His figures of 1-130 were awful, though no worse than the returns of Peter Siddle (0-121) or Xavier Doherty (1-158).
After that embarrassing loss for Australia, then skipper Ricky Ponting said Bollinger had “hit the wall” during the side’s marathon stint in the field.
It has since been suggested by some pundits and fans that Bollinger had pulled a heart muscle.
Reporters close to the Australian side suggested as a result of that Test his cards had been marked by the selectors.
In an interview with Fairfax Media in September, Bollinger said he had been disappointed the way he was treated.
“I had one bad Test and everyone labelled me unfit,” he said.
“I’d played 12 Tests and that was probably the worst out of them and I was suddenly labelled this and that.
“[The experience] annoyed me because they didn’t look at my record or what I’d done before. When Ricky said I hit the wall out there, people jumped on it.”
Bollinger has worked his way back into the selectors’ thoughts through lively efforts for NSW this season and last summer.
Along with Western Australia tearaway Nathan Coulter-Nile, he was on standby for the second, third and fourth Ashes Tests this summer.
Australia will likely select a 16-man squad for next month’s tour of South Africa as they did in 2011.
It is probable they will select three pacemen as backups for their experienced frontline attack of Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson.
Australia has a wealth of young fast bowling talent.
But the likes of James Pattinson, Jackson Bird, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are all injury-prone.
Starc broke down three times in 2013, Bird suffered two serious back injuries last year, Pattinson has missed 16 Tests with injury since debuting two years ago, and Cummins seemingly cannot peek at a cricket ball without suffering physical consequences.
If Pattinson and Bird are included in the Test squad for South Africa, both will have had just a handful of T20 games since returning from lengthy layoffs due to back fractures.
It could be risky for Australia to include both of them given they won’t have played a first-class game in five months.
Bollinger looms as a potential insurance policy for Australia in case of injury to one or more of their veteran starters.
In his four Shield games this summer, Bollinger has showcased pace and precision in taking 17 wickets at 25.
He is also apparently as fit as he has been in his career after undergoing an intensive fitness regime in the winter.
Given Aussie coach Darren Lehmann’s comments last month that Australia was mainly interested in quicks who bowled close to or in excess of 140kmh, it seems Chadd Sayers and Trent Copeland may not be considered for South Africa.
That leaves Bollinger as perhaps the best-credentialed, fully fit backup paceman for that tour.
After three years of wondering how his Test career evaporated, Bollinger would be worthy of the opportunity.