Josh Hazlewood, an injured Australian paceman, was ruled out of the second Ashes Test against England in Adelaide this week, with Jhye Richardson or Michael Neser set to take his place.
The 30-year-old had a side strain during Australia’s nine-wicket thrashing of the tourists in the first Test at Brisbane and has returned home to rest.
“Hazlewood returned to Sydney yesterday afternoon for additional evaluation and rehabilitation,” Cricket Australia stated. “A decision on his fitness for the Boxing Day Test (in Melbourne) will be made in due time.”
Hazlewood has a pink-ball record of 32 wickets at 19.90, so his absence is a major setback ahead of the Adelaide day-night Test, which begins on Thursday.
He didn’t bowl on the third afternoon in Brisbane, but he did go through six overs on day four after an overnight scan.
At the time, Australian captain Pat Cummins stated Hazlewood was “a little sore.”
“It’s nothing significant,” Cummins said at the time, “but I didn’t want it to turn into a major injury.”
In what would be only his third Test, Richardson is widely considered the favorite to replace him and join Cummins and Mitchell Starc as Australia’s three-pronged pace attack.
The 25-year-old has been in fantastic early season Sheffield Shield form, having played his only two Tests against Sri Lanka over three years ago.
Neser, who has yet to earn a cap, has also had a strong start to the season. Australia is worried about David Warner’s fitness after he suffered bruised ribs.
Despite scoring 94 runs in Brisbane, the powerful opener did not bat in Australia’s second innings, when only 20 runs were required to win.
After the Test, Cummins stated that he expects Warner to recover in a timely manner, with the seasoned Usman Khawaja waiting in the wings if he is unable to play.
