Advantage England as Hazlewood ruled out of first Test

PL on breaking news as Hazlewood joins Cummins in the medical tent

Australia has lost its greatest advantage in the Ashes. The band’s been broken up, the bowling cartel, considered one of cricket’s greatest, is now a solo act, with Josh Hazlewood joining Pat Cummins in the sick bay.

Hazlewood, like the captain, is out of the first Test and will not fly to Perth.

Sean Abbott has also been ruled out of the first Test, the quick suffering a hamstring strain in the same NSW Shield match as Hazlewood.

While there have been many questions about Australia’s top order, the one bankable item the side had ahead of the enormous series was the stability and quality of its bowling line-up.

You could argue that the visitors now have the upper hand.

Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, as fragile as they historically are, appear to be fit for the Friday’s first Test match in Perth, while selectors are reaching deeper into the cupboard than they’d hoped. Scott Boland’s ability at the top level is unquestioned, but with Sean Abbott also injured, Australia have now had to call on 6th-ranked pacer Michael Neser, veteran of two Tests, into the squad.

Brendan Doggett, 31, is ahead of Neser in calculations and will presumably make his Test debut in the first game.

Doggett as played 50 first class fixtures and taken 190 wickets at 26, he has picked up five wicket hauls in his last two Shield games.

The knock-on effect of the injuries could see Australia opt for two all-rounders, Cam Green and Beau Webster, which would cruel Jake Weatherald’s chances of making his debut in Friday’s match.

Cummins is saying he might be right for two to three Tests in the series. We have no idea what Hazlewood’s availability will be, but he is not flying to Perth.

Hazlewood broke down in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and also early in the 2022-23 summer.

He had looked to be in scintillating form in the white ball series against India, but the shift to four-day cricket for last week’s Sheffield Shield game did not provide the tune-up Australia was hoping for.

On the road again.

You know there’s a big tour and a big story on hand when you find yourself typing in an airport. And that’s just what’s happening now. Gideon is out there somewhere playing for the Yarras. I caught the 3 pm flight from Sydney to Melbourne, where I’ll be joining him and Channel 7 sports boss Chris Jones for an event tonight before both of us do Offsiders in the morning.

I offer this information by way of excuse for the haste with which it is being relayed, and for the delay in telling you – the news broke as the plane was taking off and I’ve scambled from the tarmac to file.

To be frank, this news is surprising.

Hazlewood was, by all accounts, laughing off the injury after the scans, saying it was Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).

Things took a turn for the worse in the days that followed.