Cricket news 2023 Australian tour to India Josh Hazlewood injury ruled out of Nagpur test
Australia suffered another blow for their fast bowling actions.
Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the first Test against India with an Achilles problem, which he says stems from the Sydney Test last month.
The SCG match was plagued by rain, and when the umpires ordered the players back to the ground, the bowlers found their swings soft.
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“There is still some test match (SCG) left,” Hazlewood told reporters in Bangalore, where the Australians are camping before flying to Nagpur for the first Test starting on Thursday.
“We obviously played after a lot of rain and the play-offs were quite soft from where we were taking off and they ended up replacing them as well.
“It kind of worked to some extent, but just that extra load of jumping off soft ground to go bowling and again the first test match (coming back from injury) your body is not not used to this kind of workload either.
“I was bowling a bit before the (India) tour at home and kind of just went against it. He probably wasn’t recovering as well as I would have liked between each session.”
Hazlewood has only played four Test matches in the last two years for Australia due to various injuries.
His latest setback is a blow to the Aussies, who are already missing Mitchell Starc for the Nagpur match.
Fast and versatile bowler Cameron Green is also unlikely to play in Nagpur as he recovers from a finger injury.
Hazlewood news opens the door for Scott Boland or Lance Morris to enter the XI.
Boland has never played a Test outside Australia, while Morris has yet to be featured with his loose green.
“Scotty played a lot at the MCG when it was a flat wicket, it probably wasn’t a swing or a reverse swing, so he knows how to work hard for a long time,” Hazlewood said of Boland.
“You have Lance Morris working hard on the reverse swing last month and then a nice lead here with a few sessions.
“The guys are first of all excited to play in the subcontinent, they both haven’t done it yet, but they’re very well qualified to do it.”
Australia will name an XI on Wednesday or at the draw on Thursday.
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