Josh Hazlewood has withdrawn from the first Test of the four-match series against India with an Achilles injury and will join fellow Australia quick Mitchell Starc on the sidelines of a blockbuster tour.
Hazlewood’s injury is a major setback to the visitors as all-rounder Cameron Green is unlikely to bowl if he plays in the series opener at Nagpur.
Speaking to cricket.com.au, Hazlewood said that he has had injury issues since the SCG Test against South Africa, and damp pitches caused it in Sydney.
“It’s still lingering from the (Sydney) Test match,” Hazlewood said of his injury.
“We obviously bowled after a lot of rain and the jump-offs were quite soft where we were taking off from, and they ended up replacing them as well.
“It sort of worked to a degree, but just that extra load jumping off a soft ground to bowl and again first Test match (back from injury) your body is not used to that sort of workload as well.
“I was bowling a fair bit leading into the (India) tour at home and sort of just pushing up against it. It probably wasn’t recovering as well as I would have liked between each session.
“So thought we’d give it a few days here straight of the bat and try and get over the hump and have a bowl from Tuesday and hope it goes well.”
The 32-year-old also backed Scott Boland and Lance Morris to perform well if they get a chance to play in the first Test.
“Scotty has bowled plenty at the MCG when it was a flat wicket, it probably wasn’t swinging or reverse swinging so he knows how to work hard for a long period of time,” Hazlewood said of Boland, who has a Test bowling average of 12.21.
“You’ve got Lance Morris who has worked hard on reverse swing for the last month and then a nice lead-in here with a few sessions.
“The guys are excited first of all to play in the subcontinent, they both haven’t yet, but they’re very well qualified to do so.”
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