As he gets ready to face a “unbelievable” England batting lineup that he thinks will be the best they have ever brought to Australia in his career, Josh Hazlewood anticipates playing a Sheffield Shield match in the run-up to the Ashes in November.
Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have not played in recent weeks, and Hazlewood recently played five of the six white-ball matches against South Africa after missing the T20I series against the West Indies after the Tests. Although Hazlewood won’t be playing in September, he prefers to continue accumulating miles before the first Test in Perth rather than taking a long break.
At a function to support Play Cricket Week, Hazlewood stated, “It felt like the best way for me to go about it over the last 12 months is just keep on ticking over, keep playing, not having too long off bowling.” “I find it difficult to regain that level of intensity and volume. Thus, the ideal approach for me would be to simply maintain my intensity and stay up there as long as possible.”
Hazlewood, who participated in four Test matches during the 2023 Ashes, anticipates that the England batting lineup will present a formidable obstacle. In the current India series, they occasionally adopted a more nuanced strategy as opposed to launching an all-out assault before losing by six runs at The Oval. After a magnificent hundred, Harry Brook’s stroke caused a 7 for 66 collapse that sparked much controversy.
Brook, who is presently placed second in the Test rankings behind Joe Root, will be playing his first Test tour of Australia. In 2022, he scored a maximum of 20 in nine Twenty20 Internationals played in Australia. He only played for the England Lions once in 2021, therefore his ability to adapt to new circumstances will be crucial to the team’s future. The same is true of Root’s performance, who averages 35.68 from 14 games and has failed to make a Test century in Australia.
“England has obviously been quite flat wickets recently, the last few years, and it’s been a really dry summer as well, so they are probably starting to get tired and spin now,” Hazlewood stated. “I believe Brook will adjust. He plays well. He’ll be a formidable opponent, and he’s at the top of the rankings for a reason.
“[Root] was a slightly different attack when it was first released. Most likely, it was [Peter] Siddle, [Ryan] Harris, and [Mitchell] Johnson. Since Gaz [Nathan Lyon] has been around for a while, he was most likely present, but we kind of just jumped on it.
“I believe it might be simpler for a newcomer like Harry Brook. He can just come out and play freely because he has no baggage behind him. Joe is also most likely in the prime of his life. To be honest, their hitting line is incredible. It’s a struggle because the top seven have performed incredibly well.
When asked if it will be the best batting lineup England has brought to Australia recently, Hazlewood replied, “Yeah, definitely.”
Before the Ashes, Australia will host India for ODIs and T20Is after a three-match T20I series against New Zealand in early October. Hazlewood is eager to have the chance to replicate long-form intensity, but it is unclear how his schedule will be adjusted to allow him a red-ball outing. The Sheffield Shield matches’ fourth round, which begins on November 10 when New South Wales plays Victoria at the SCG, may be too close to the start of the series.
Prior to the India Test series, Hazlewood played one match for New South Wales last season. Despite going wicketless in 24 overs against Queensland, he was Australia’s best bowler in the first Test match in Perth until an injury ended his campaign. Though the workload on bowler-friendly Caribbean surfaces was not particularly heavy, he managed to play all four Test matches this winter against South Africa and the West Indies.
“There will be multiple [Shield games] for the Test [only] people. Everyone is on different programs, but they’ll most likely play two or three,” he stated. “I kind of discovered that it’s really helpful after using it last year. Multiple periods in a day and time spent on the pitch are difficult to duplicate during training. Therefore, I believe it is crucial to have that before a Test series.
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