Australia’s fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the remainder of the Ashes series against England due to an injury setback, announced on Tuesday. Coach Andrew McDonald informed reporters that Hazlewood, who missed the first two Tests, has been struggling with hamstring and Achilles injuries and will miss the last three matches.
“Really flat for him. A couple of setbacks that we didn’t see coming,” McDonald stated. “We thought he’d play a huge part in the series. But really feel for him that he won’t get that opportunity.”
Hazlewood will now aim to be fully fit for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, starting in February.
Pat Cummins, another fast bowler, is expected to return as captain for the third Test in Adelaide next week as Australia aims to seal the series. The 32-year-old Cummins has been out since the tour to the West Indies in July due to a lower back injury.
McDonald mentioned that Cummins had completed a match-like workload in training last week and is ready to play.
“This is something we’ve done with Pat before with longish layoffs, where we’ve put some time and effort into rebuilding his body,” McDonald explained.
“He was out at Allan Border Field whilst everyone was at the Gabba; he simulated pretty much what a match will look like out there with multiple spells. So we feel as though he’ll be as best prepared as can be. He was well ahead of where we thought he’d be at and it did create a real live conversation for (Cummins playing in) Brisbane. It was debated a lot leading into that Test match. With that in mind, us seeing him further advanced, we feel he’ll be really well placed for the challenges of Adelaide albeit (it’s still) a long way off,” he added.
