Hazlewood hopeful of WTC remaining: ‘My health is fairly good’

Hazlewood performed simply three matches within the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore after arriving to the event late attributable to an Achilles concern that noticed him miss Australia’s whole four-match Test sequence with India in February and March and the three-match ODI sequence that adopted.

The determination to withdraw Hazlewood from the IPL early was precautionary and scans cleared him of any injury to his facet. He has suffered two facet strains prior to now two years which noticed him miss 4 Tests within the 2021-22 dwelling Ashes sequence after which three extra final summer time in opposition to West Indies and South Africa.

But he was capable of bowl at dwelling in Sydney earlier than travelling with the crew to England final week. The squad held their first official coaching session in England on Tuesday in Formby in West Lancashire the place Hazlewood went at near full tilt having had a mild bowl on his personal shortly after arriving in England.

He instructed the ICC that he’s near full health however would want to get via per week’s value of bowling to be declared match to play within the WTC remaining in opposition to India beginning subsequent Wednesday on the Oval in London.

“My fitness is pretty good,” Hazlewood mentioned. “It is just a matter of ticking off every session from here until that date basically.

“In T20 you’re bowling a number of varied completely different balls each over. A large yorker to a bouncer to a slower ball, and [the side] simply acquired jammed up just a little bit and a little bit of scar tissue from earlier accidents flared up.

“It calmed down pretty quickly. I had a week off, I didn’t quite get back to going 100 percent at [the] IPL, but the last few bowls have been good and I have been building up nicely.”

Australia started their UK tour in Lancashire with a golf journey that included a coaching session at Formby on Tuesday earlier than heading to London on Wednesday the place they are going to maintain a three-day camp at Beckenham.

Hazlewood will possible should get via two stable bowling periods on Thursday and Saturday if he is any probability to play within the WTC remaining. Australia will prepare on the Oval on Monday and Tuesday and the quicks usually have one other stable bowling session two days out from a Test match earlier than resting the day previous to the match.

Australia’s facet will probably be settled for the WTC remaining outdoors of the choice between Hazlewood and Boland, with Pat Cummins returning to captain the crew after lacking the final two Tests in India for household causes. Mitchell Starc is absolutely match having performed because the lone fast in Australia’s remaining two Tests in India after lacking the primary two attributable to a finger harm.

Hazlewood has solely performed 4 of Australia’s final 19 Test matches and has not performed in back-to-back first-class video games since early 2021. He was conscious that six Tests in seven weeks can be an enormous ask for the quick bowlers to undertake regardless of a need to play each sport.

“If you asked that question three years ago I probably would have said I would have liked to play all six Tests, but it is just different now,” Hazlewood mentioned. “It is just so tightly consumed together now and coming off not an ideal build-up, it is getting there now.

“But we’ve got acquired sufficient quicks right here and a few others enjoying county cricket to cowl all bases. Pat is probably taking a look at all six doubtlessly relying how a lot we bowl in every so that you play it by ear just a little bit. It is such a dense schedule, it’s powerful.”