Josh Hazlewood‘s return to the nets on Tuesday, following his absence from the first Ashes Test in Perth due to a hamstring injury, is positive for Australia.
In the meantime, Pat Cummins was seen bowling with a pink ball as he continues to work towards making a comeback for the day-night Test at the Gabba after suffering a back injury.
While New South Wales was playing Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield, the two practiced at Cricket Central in Sydney.
Hazlewood bowled with a red ball, seemingly a clear indication of urgent responsibilities. Adelaide, which switched back to a day test this year, will be his recovery objective because he is not anticipated to be eligible for the Gabba Test.
Australia’s coach, Andrew McDonald, expressed confidence on Monday that Hazlewood will be ready later in the Ashes.
“I know that he’ll be available at some point during the series,” he stated. “We’ve got a little bit of that early rehab to go through to formulate where he may plug into the series, but we expect him to take some part in the series.”
Prior to the first Test, Cummins looked strong in the nets in Perth and has been improving his bowling in recent weeks. Even though there are early signs that matches in this series might not go the distance, the selectors will still need to be absolutely certain that he can handle the workloads needed for a Test.
“It looked like a player that was nearing the completion of his rehabilitation,” McDonald stated. “The ball speed and intensity were both present. There are many benefits, but right now the focus is on strengthening the soft tissue’s resilience and ensuring that we don’t put him in danger by hastening it too fast.”
The schedule does get more compressed from Adelaide onwards: there is a four-day gap to the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, and if those matches make it to the fifth day, the same is true for Sydney. The first three Tests of the series are evenly spaced out, with the first and second Tests now taking place 11 days apart after the two-day conclusion in Perth.
Brisbane’s day-night pink-ball component raises the possibility of another brief, intense Test. Although wickets hadn’t dropped at the same pace on the first two days of the current Sheffield Shield matches, ten wickets fell in the night session of the third day between Victoria and Queensland to speed up the match to a conclusion.
Xavier Bartlett had a standout effort in that game, going 4 for 35 in the second inning and hitting a career-high 72. If Cummins and Hazlewood are available, Australia might not require further pace reinforcement during the Ashes. However, Bartlett, who has performed well in ODIs and T20Is, might have advanced in the rankings.
Michael Neser, whose home ground is the Gabba, was Perth’s spare fast bowler. He has played two Test matches in Adelaide with the pink ball, against the West Indies in 2022–2023 and England in 2021–2022.
As Jhye Richardson recovers from his shoulder surgery earlier this year, the selectors expressed their hope that he would be a possibility later in the series in the run-up to the Ashes.
He bowled 20 wicketless overs for the Cricket Australia XI against the England Lions at Lilac Hill after training with the Test team in Perth. Next week in Brisbane, he is anticipated to play for Australia A against the Lions.
“This game was a lot about physical preparation for me and making sure that we can get through,” Richardson said to reporters following the CA XI match. “After the bowling, some people might have noticed some ice on it, but that’s just maintenance. The shoulder feels fantastic, and with every bowl, it gets better.
“It’s a decent hit out, the most overs I’ve bowled in a while and it’s all part of the process to building up to be ready for four and five-day cricket.”
India
