Josh Hazlewood has announced his intention to play in every Test match in Australia this summer and believes the preparation the country’s fast bowlers are enjoying ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy is the best it has been in years.
The champion fast bowler will play his first one-day game for New South Wales in three years when he joins Australia captain Pat Cummins in the match against Victoria at Melbourne’s Junction Oval on Friday.
The return to cricket follows Mitchell Starc’s starring role in the side’s defeat in the Sheffield Shield match earlier this week.
MCG, Australia’s fast bowling battery, is gearing up for the challenge that India will present during the summer.
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The 33-year-old featured in the white-ball tour of Scotland and England last month but has since been rested and given an extended lead-in to the opening Test, which includes the Sheffield Shield match in Perth starting on November 22. Looking forward to it. For his condition.
“With the Nets and (obviously) the recent England series, you can do as much as you want. My one-day cricket has picked up speed. “It’s okay,” he said.
“But perhaps more important is the Shield match next week. Go out and do longer orders, (and) do a couple of orders a day, bowl back-to-backs, whatever you need to kind of check out. , I haven’t had the opportunity to do so in the past few years. “We didn’t have time because of our schedule.”
Starc took six wickets in the 37 overs he bowled against Victoria in the second round of the Sheffield Shield, but Hazlewood is not planning such a heavy workload for the match against Queensland in Sydney starting November 1.
“No, that’s a bit too much. (But) it takes a lot for Starkey to stop bowling. So I don’t think anyone said anything.”
“I think it’s really good to exercise when you’re in your 30s. Like I said, (I’d like to) tick off all the boxes for back-to-back bowling and that kind of thing. And…get some miles on your legs and get ready for Test cricket.”
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Former fast bowling great Brett Lee said on Fox Cricket’s podcast: sequel This week he hopes the champion trio will be available for both the five-Test against India and the two-match series in Sri Lanka.
Apart from the Border Gavaskar Trophy, both defending champions Australia and current runners-up India are locked in a tight race to qualify for next year’s World Test Championship final.
Like Starc, Hazlewood said he would like to play in every game if possible, but this will obviously have to do with the trio’s ability to stay fit during the summer when testing is expected. He last missed a Test match on the Ashes tour in 2023.
“We get asked the same question every year. Play when you have stamina. If not, you’re not playing. It’s as simple as that. “No one rests in exhibition games,” he said.
“If you’re ready to go the day before, you’re playing. If not, please take a seat. We have enough money in the stable to have two guys in the stable who can do really good things and can put a lot of pressure on us at times. “There’s no drama (there).”
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The key reserve player for the series is expected to be Victoria veteran Scott Boland, who got the wickets of Steve Smith, Sam Konstas and Nic Maddinson on his return to cricket after suffering a knee injury in the Shield match at the MCG.
Hazelwood, who is considering playing in the Indian Premier League next year, has been in contact with the 35-year-old and said he is confident he will play for Australia again this summer if he is called up for a tour of India or Australia. Sri Lanka.
“I haven’t watched many Shield games, but I actually (shared) a few texts with him and talked to him a little bit, and he said he was a little rusty going in. But… he got better.” As the game progresses.” Hazlewood said:
“I think he has a talent for bowling too. The more he plays the better he gets and we know what he can do at the highest level so there is no doubt that he will perform at some stage in the summer and even overseas on the upcoming Test tour .
“It’s great. He’s a great guy to have in the group, and when he’s out there, he’s really great and a great competitor.”
