From ‘holy grail’ to uncharted territory: The biggest blow to Australia’s Ashes hopes

3 weeks ago 14

Josh Hazlewood had unexpected time at home in Sydney with his family on Sunday.

Rather than flying with the rest of the Australian squad to Perth, he is now staying put while he waits for a hamstring strain to settle.

Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the first Test in Perth.

Captain Pat Cummins is headed west to build up his bowling loads after back trouble, but Hazlewood is unclear about a return date.

That puts Australia’s Test team in difficult territory not truly charted for nearly a decade. Since the 2017-18 summer, there have only been two matches in which neither Cummins nor Hazlewood were available. Both ended in big Australian victories in Adelaide, against England in 2021 and West Indies the following year.

But these were to an extent one-offs. Cummins was back for the very next Test on both occasions, consistent with the high level of stability enjoyed by the bowling battery over the most of the past eight years.

For something different, you have to go back to 2016-17 for a similar circumstance where multiple new bowlers had to be tried over a series before Cummins was consistently available on home soil. It wasn’t pretty.

Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc were supported by a revolving door trio of pacemen against South Africa: Peter Siddle, Joe Mennie and Jackson Bird. Siddle was injured during the opener in Perth and replaced by debutant Mennie, who was then dropped for Bird’s recall.

The bowling changes were in parallel to struggles in the top order. Australia cycled through no fewer than 11 different batsmen in three matches, with debuts for Callum Ferguson, Nic Maddinson, Peter Handscomb and Matt Renshaw. Ferguson’s Test was his one and only.

Australia lost the series 2-1, hammered in each of the first two games. What’s more, those defeats made it five in a row for a team then led by Steve Smith. The Hobart hiding took place in scarcely more than two days, forcing a crisis visit to the dressing room by Cricket Australia’s then chief executive James Sutherland and performance chief Pat Howard. Selection chair Rod Marsh resigned that week.

This is not to say that a similar note of chaos would be struck if Australia were beaten by England this summer. But it underlines the fact that uncertainty around the composition of the bowling attack can contribute to circumstances of unease and losing big matches.

Moreover, this Australian side has been far more bowler-led since Cummins took over as captain, overturning norms of leadership and decision-making that historically come from somewhere in the top six of the batting order.

So while Cummins’ presence in Perth will be useful to team discussions and plans for the rest of the series, the reality of Hazlewood sitting at home is a far more unsettling one for the hosts, and a strong source of encouragement for England’s Ashes challengers.

As the touring team’s performance boss Rob Key has said: “I always find it slightly frustrating how they managed to keep those bowlers fit for almost everything. That’s the dream, isn’t it? Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, with the era that they’ve had, it’s been a lot because of those guys. That’s the holy grail, really, being able to keep your best bowlers fit like that for as long as possible.”

There are no guarantees England will be able to keep Jofra Archer and Mark Wood going throughout the Ashes. But right now, they have more chance of getting to the start line than a recovering Cummins and a convalescing Hazlewood.

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