Australia’s Ashes plans were thrown into chaos on Wednesday when two of their first Test bowlers were sent for scans – their mood only marginally improving after Josh Hazlewood was given the all-clear.
On a dramatic day, which began with England captain Ben Stokes enthusing about pace pair Jofra Archer and Mark Wood being back together, opponents Australia were thrust into panic mode when both Hazlewood and Sean Abbott left the field late in New South Wales’ 300-run defeat to Victoria with hamstring complaints.
Abbott was subsequently ruled out of the 15-man squad for the match at Optus Stadium with a minor strain and while Hazlewood avoided lasting damage, his chequered fitness record will not inspire confidence.
With captain Pat Cummins already out of the November 21 series opener, the hosts will not want to take any risks on selection.
And Hazlewood, who turns 35 the day after the Ashes is scheduled to conclude, comes with a historically high risk factor, suffering side injuries in the opening Test of three of the previous four home seasons.
His reputation for pulling out of Tests mid-match – as he did last December against India at the Gabba due to a calf injury – will also make Australia’s chief selector George Bailey nervous.
Australia’s Ashes plans were thrown into chaos on Wednesday when two of their first Test bowlers were sent for scans – their mood only marginally improving after Josh Hazlewood (pictured) was given the all-clear
Sean Abbott (pictured) has been ruled out of the 15-man squad for the match at Optus Stadium with a minor strain
Steve Smith (pictured) he had been left worrying on Hazlewood’s fitness after the pace bowler had told him he had been feeling some tightness in his hamstring
Not least because Australia appear intent on picking Cameron Green at number six, despite him only recently returning to full all-rounder duty post back surgery and sending down just eight overs for Western Australia in the first innings of the Sheffield Shield contest against Queensland at the WACA.
Meanwhile, rival Beau Webster, of Tasmania, returned career-best match figures of eight for 123 in a losing cause against South Australia in Hobart.
Australia do not usually take fitness gambles, but Cummins alluded to such a strategy when, referring to his own attempts to return from a back injury for the second Test at Brisbane next month, he said: ‘It’s still pretty aggressive, going from nothing to trying to get ready for a Test match in four weeks. But we’re going to give it a good shot.’
While Australia were contemplating calling up more seam-bowling reserves, England were preparing to unleash Wood for the first time in nine months, in a warm-up encounter that also features fellow 90-mile-per-hour man Archer.
‘It’s great to have the X factor that Jof and Woody possess. Woody has got over the knee surgery he had quite a while ago, he’s overcome that and is looking really good,’ Stokes said.
‘Jofra has been out on the park for two and a half years now, so it’s great to see those two out there flying in with some fast balls down at our guys.’
Stokes shrugged off criticism of England’s low-key Ashes preparation by claiming they will go ‘balls to the wall’ over the next three days at Lilac Hill.
Former Ashes heroes Michael Vaughan and Ian Botham are among those critical of a schedule featuring minimal practice ahead of the five-match series.
It comes as England are set to unleash a ferocious bowling attack that will feature Mark Wood (left) and Jofra Archer (right)
Ben Stokes has, meanwhile, shrugged off criticism of England’s low-key Ashes preparation by claiming they will go ‘balls to the wall’ over the next three days at Lilac Hill
Vaughan said England gathering on the west coast of Australia this week from various destinations, with a chunk of players coming from the white-ball tour of New Zealand and others arriving alongside the 18-strong Lions group shadowing this tour, was a risky tactic.
Botham added that not playing state sides, as the victorious teams of 1986-87 and 2010-11 did, was ‘bordering on arrogance’.
However, Stokes retorted: ‘The next three days is balls to the wall for everyone. No easing into it.
‘We’ve got nine days until that first Test match. So a lot of things can happen. But this will be a nice opportunity to allow everyone from our squad that we’ve chosen to be able to get some time in the middle.’
Of the lack of first-class fixtures, he continued: ‘Cricket’s changed so much and preparation is nowhere near as simple as it used to be.
‘You used to be able to come out on a tour a month-and-a-half, two months before the first game started.
‘Now there’s so much cricket packed into the schedule it’s impossible to do it how it used to be done.
‘But we’ve not been preparing for this tour not over the last three weeks, we’ve put a lot of thought and process into this for a few years now.
Former Ashes heroes Ian Botham (left) and Michael Vaughan (right) are amongst those critical of a schedule featuring minimal practice ahead of the five-match series
Stokes (pictured) retorted at the two ex-England stars appearing to claim that they were ‘has beens’
‘So I don’t know what else we’re expected to do? There’s Sheffield Shield cricket on at the moment so who would we play against?
‘We’re about to go out and face a team who have got a mix between our squad and also the next best players in England.
‘So there’s a quite a few factors that play into the whole of why we can’t prepare how the has beens maybe prepared in the past. The landscape of cricket has changed.
‘But we are very confident and very comfortable with how we prepare because we leave no stone unturned.’
