Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Will Josh Hazlewood play in the Tests vs South Africa? | Update on Josh Hazlewood’s injury before South Africa series
Josh Hazlewood is in doubt for the start of Australia’s upcoming three-match Test series against South Africa due to a side strain that ruled him out of the second Test vs West Indies.
Earlier, the 31-year-old was reported to be suffering from general soreness that raised doubts over his further involvement in the remainder of the series against West Indies. However, the side strain issue was discovered later on and Hazlewood is set to return to Sydney for rehabilitation on Friday.
This is the second blow that the Australian pace attack has been dealt with this week after skipper Pat Cummins was forced to sit out of the second Test as well due to a quad strain. Scott Boland and Michael Neser replaced the duo for the Adelaide match.
Hazlewood has a low-level side strain – Pat Cummins
“I feel for Joshy, he’s pretty understandably flat. It’s a low-level strain in his side. He was a little bit sore after the last Test match, had a bowl in the nets yesterday to prove his fitness and was a bit sorer than we’d all hoped,” Cummins explained to Channel 7, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
A low-level side strain often can take about 4-6 weeks to recover from. Given the start of the South Africa Test series starts next week, Hazlewood is in great doubt for the Brisbane match.
The injuries to Australia’s first-choice pacers so early on in the season can raise concerns for the team management especially considering the hectic schedule lying ahead of them. The three-Test series against South Africa will round up on 8 January. Australia’s next Test assignment after that will be against India, with the first of the four Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy kicking off from 9 February at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur.
The upcoming seven Tests are critical for Australia’s qualification prospects for the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23. They are currently placed atop the table but will be hoping to secure as many wins as possible in the home Tests before heading to India for four Tests.
