Ashes 2021 first Test: Australia reveals why Josh Hazlewood didn't bowl to Joe Root
Australia has revealed why Josh Hazlewood watched his bunny, England captain Joe Root, compile a potential match-saving innings without bowling to him for three hours at the Gabba.
Ben Horne
4 min read
December 11, 2021 - 8:20AM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
Joe Root’s three quicks are his only hope of salvaging the first Ashes Test. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty
Australia insists Josh Hazlewood is not injured despite one of the world’s most bankable bowlers watching on as Joe Root force-fed flashbacks of last summer’s Gabba nightmare.
After declaring this Ashes series will define him as a cricketer, Root is in the midst of his finest ever knock on Australian soil, leading a brave fightback which dramatically turned the tables on Pat Cummins’ team and invited dreams of an English miracle to rival India’s from 10 months ago.
Australia’s massive 278-run first innings lead means England still have a long way to go to get themselves into a position where they can win the match, but a courageous unbeaten 150 run partnership from Root (86 not out) and Dawid Malan (80 not out) has given the tourists hope when there was none with the deficit down to 58.
Root has never scored a hundred in Australia from three tours, but one here could change everything.
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So rampant was their first innings demolition of England, Australia’s bowling attack suddenly looked drained of energy on day three, with Nathan Lyon battling helplessly to crack a long-awaited 400-wicket milestone that has started looking like a burden.
Root, Malan and the sapping Brisbane heat went to work and Hazlewood mysteriously disappeared from the attack for nearly 40 overs – not leaving the field, but rather hovering in the outfield for three hours as Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Lyon were left to carry the load.
Hazlewood is normally the ironman of bowlers who can charge in all day – but he only completed eight overs on day three and didn’t bowl after the 29th over, having only one crack at Root despite his incredible record against him, which included claiming his scalp in the first innings.
On top of that, David Warner is battling the enormous discomfort of severely bruised ribs, giving England further incentive to dig in and post a competitive fourth innings target.
At stumps, Lyon was still desperately searching at 0-69 from 24 overs of bowling all day, and England had whittled Australia’s lead down to 58 with eight wickets still in the shed at 2-220.
Malan said another 100-run partnership to start day four and England would feel in a position where they could post a competitive fourth innings target on a two-paced pitch.
Despite the horrors of Rishabh Pant and India running Australia down from behind to end the Gabba dynasty last summer, Marnus Labuschagne says the team is remaining calm and inferred Hazlewood’s bizarre break from bowling was due more to managing his workload following a preparation of T20 cricket.
Joe root raises his bat after notching 50.
“Our feeling in the change room is very calm. It’s Test cricket. You never expect any Test nation especially playing England in the Ashes to come in and roll over,” said Labuschagne.
“Test cricket is a grind otherwise it wouldn’t mean so much to both countries. We just have to make sure we come back tomorrow, review our plans and how we bowled today and come up with ideas to go get those eight wickets.
“Hoff (Hazlewood) is fine. We’re just making sure we prepare really well. We know there’s times at the Gabba where not as many wickets fall and to hold in that period and rotate our bowlers well.”
Australia’s bowlers have been forced to once again confront the demons of last summer, when India fought back off the ropes to destroy Australia’s famous 30-year unbeaten dynasty at the Gabba.
Joe Root has invited dreams of an English miracle.
Facing the daunting pressure of a pair following his first innings duck as well as humiliating defeat, Root stood up to be counted to take the wind out Australia’s sails and confirm why he is ranked the world’s No.1 batsman.
Captain Pat Cummins said before the Test that the biggest lesson from that chastening experience was not sticking at plans for long enough.
“I think tactically you could make a couple of changes. We could have stuck at a couple of plans for a bit longer and really leaned on our strengths for a bit longer of bowling full, attacking the stumps those kind of things,” Cummins told News Corp before the Test of the learnings against India.
“It’s also amazing how quickly a day of 90 overs can go. With a couple of partnerships it can disappear even if it’s day five.”
Now the pressure is on Australia to regroup on the run and reassert themselves on day four.
England captain Root has continued one of the most dominant years’ by a batsman in recent Test history, as he sped past Michael Vaughan (1481 in 2002) for most runs by an Englishman in a calendar year.
Root had not shied away from the weight of expectation he was carrying on his shoulders as the only member of his top six with a Test average above 40.
Root’s captaincy and tactics has been savaged by ex-greats including Ian Chappell, but Fox Cricket expert Vaughan told News Corp before this Test that the boy-faced star’s only job as skipper at the Gabba was to make a mark on the scoreboard.
Root himself concedes his legacy hinges on this series.
Updates
STUMPS UPDATE: Root leads stirring England fightback
Joe Barton
England have staged a tremendous fightback on day three of the Ashes to put the pressure firmly back on Australia – and it's a revival that has been lead by skipper Joe Root.
Root closed the day unbeaten on 86, adding 159 along with Dawid Malan (80 not out) as England cut Australia's lead down to 58 reaching stumps on 2-220.
Across the three days, England have had very little to cheer about but the fight shown on Friday could completely change the tour as a whole – and has certainly breathed life into the Gabba Test.
A huge day awaits tomorrow, with Pat Cummins facing his first challenge as captain.
Former Test stars perplexed by 'strange' Hazlewood absence
Joe Barton
Australia's lead has been whittled down to just 70, with Joe Root and Dawid Malan both nudging their way towards centuries. And there are few answers in the Australian camp. New skipper Pat Cummins has tried a variety of options – throwing the ball to part-timer Marnus Labuschagne in addition to himself, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Cameron Green. One man who hasn't been called on for a while, since the 29th over, is Josh Hazlewood. The towering paceman was exceptional in his early spells in the first innings but has barely been sighted since being left fuming as a potential caught-behind off Malan was turned down. "He's the perfect guy for any scenario. (To have bowled) eight overs from 65, it is very strange, and he needs to bowl now before the new ball comes around," said former Test quick Trent Copeland. Test great Matthew Hayden was also perplexed with the use of Hazlewood. "You've got a world class bowler like Hazlewood, I think he's been underbowled today – especially inside the first 20 overs of this innings." Instead, Lyon has absorbed the bulk of the overs as Australia's quicks get a rest – a move which hasn't delivered any great results, as the GOAT continues his wait for Test wicket No.400. And what a wait it has been – he's been in the nervous 390s for nearly two years….
Nathan Lyon got to 390 Test wickets in January 2020 with a 10-wicket match against New Zealand. In nearly two years since, he’s into his fifth Test and has taken nine. Still there waiting, on 399.
Wickets are hard to come by at the Gabba, but if ever you needed a reminder of the quality of depth in Australia's fast bowling ranks you needed only cast your eye across town to Ian Healy Oval in Brisbane where Michael Neser was running riot against England A.
Neser can't get a start in the Australian Test team – having carried the drinks as 12th man more times in recent years than anyone wants to add up – but he's surely the world's best back-up.
———–
By Marco Monteverde
Queensland Bulls paceman Michael Neser has further enhanced his bid for a Test debut with a five-wicket haul for Australia A against the England Lions at Ian Healy Oval in Brisbane. In reply to the Australians’ first-innings total of 213 at Ian Healy Oval, the Lions were all out for just 103 soon after lunch on Friday. Already in trouble at 3-13 at the start of the morning, the Lions continued to struggle against an impressive Australia A bowling attack. Test squad member Neser was the pick of the bowlers. Having claimed the scalp of Lions captain Alex Lees the day before, Neser added to his wicket tally with the dismissals of James Bracey (5), Harry Brook (17), Ben Foakes (12) and Dom Bess (15) to finish with the superb figures of 5-29 off 15,3 overs. Neser was ably supported, with fellow Test aspirants Mitch Swepson (2-26) and Mitch Marsh (1-15) also taking wickets on Friday morning.
Joe Barton
Everything went to hand for the Australians in the first innings – catches stuck, balls went to the right areas.
But it's just not happening now.
Joe Root has moved into the 70s with a paddle sweep that zoomed past the right shoulder of Marnus Labuschagne at leg slip. To call it a chance would be tough, given the pace it was travelling and the reaction time from that close – but Australia needs something to fall in the right spot for them right now.
A few overs ago a half-chance landed a foot in front of Marcus Harris, who appeared to lose sight of the offering in the crowd, that also could've been a spectacular catch.
Australia's secret fear behind England's fightback
Joe Barton
Australia are still well on top, of course, but there's more than just this Test result at play according to former Australian spinner Brad Hogg. With a short turnaround to next week's second Test in Adelaide, which starts on Thursday, Australia need to be mindful of the workload of its fast bowlers. The more time spent in the field, and the more overs logged by Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood especially, the worse Australia will fare over the course of the series, according to Hogg. Australia has been reluctant to employ a rotation policy for its fast bowlers in home series, and it came back to bite them against India last year – with the fast bowlers running on empty in the fourth Test in Brisbane. The issue is further complicated by Cummins recently taking over the captaincy – and declaring he wants to play in every Test. England rested star quicks Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad from the Gabba Test, with one eye on the pink-ball event in Adelaide which is typically dominated by swing and seam bowlers.
Not worried about victory at the moment, more so the time spent in the field over two days for the Aussie bowlers for the Adelaide test. England two fresh bowlers, Aussies will want to go in with the same attack. #Ashes2021
We've a little over an hour left to play today, and with Australia in desperate need of a wicket to stave of England's fightback Pat Cummins has turned to his most devastating option: himself.
Cummins returns to the attack with Joe Root and Dawid Malan well set, having notched a 100-run partnership.
Australia needs something special from him late in the day.
Warne lashes 'very strange' fifth Test call
Joe Barton
By Emma Greenwood and Dan Batten
Shane Warne has declared the decision to hold the fifth Test in Hobart "very strange" after News Corp exclusively revealed Bellerive Oval would be confirmed as the replacement for Perth this weekend.
A formal announcement is expected this weekend but sources have told News Corp that it is a done deal after officials were swayed by the heavyweight support for the Apple Isle, including from Federal Sports Minister Richard Colbeck.
Warne has been a keen advocate for Melbourne hosting its second Test of the series, calling for a day-night match at the MCG to attract a strong crowd.
Speaking in commentary on Fox Cricket, Warne emphasised he had nothing against Tasmania but believed holding the fifth Test in Hobart would be the wrong call.
“Congratulations, but I wouldn’t have done it that way,” Warne said on Fox Cricket.
“If it’s 2-2, or 2-1, 1-0, whatever it might be, I think that you want to be fair to all the fans all over Australia, the international fans, and I don’t think you can fit them all in in Hobart.
“I just would’ve liked us to cater for everyone.
“One of the reasons that Hobart lost their Test match was because no one was turning up – that was one of the reasons they lost it, and there was talk of Canberra for the fifth Test, or somewhere else."
The best overall crowd for a Test at the venue is 29,186 for a clash against the West Indies in 2005-06, with the single-day record 12,254 from the same match.
"It just makes this decision to have this fifth Test in Hobart very strange," Warne said.
"I have no issue with Hobart, I love going down to Hobart but when the most you've had in the crowd is 29,000 people, let's hope someone turns up.
"It's why they lost it in the first place."
Joe Barton
Dawid Malan has joined Joe Root in notching a half century – his eighth in Test cricket.
Together this pair has put on 92 for the third wicket in a serious rescue mission for England.
They still trail by 125, but a big chunk of Australia's lead has been wiped and if they can get through until stumps then it will be an enormous confidence boost for the tourists.
Australia, meanwhile, has turned to a serious change of pace: Marnus Labuschagne has been handed the ball.
He has a knack of breaking partnerships. Could this be a Pat Cummins masterstroke?
Liam Twomey
You can’t keep a star down for long.
Joe Root failed in his first innings but he has come back stronger here and is leading England’s fightback.
Root has now reached 50 and hasn’t looked like getting out since he first walked to the crease.
What’s even bigger is that this pair has cut the lead to 130.
For the first time this Test, it feels like there is some pressure on Australia.
Not only will we be batting again, we might be chasing a nasty total.
Will Warner be 100 per cent from here?
Ben Horne
Test great Mike Hussey has concerns over David Warner's ability to play at his best with bruised ribs, after telling of his own painful experiences.
Warner has been cleared of a fracture by team medical staff after being sent for scans, but is off the field and understood to be in significant discomfort.
The second Test doesn't start until next Thursday but Hussey said ribs are just about the most difficult injury to play through.
“It is very painful and it hurts to cough, sneeze, laugh. It can take a long time to heal as well," said Hussey on Fox Cricket.
“I think mine was only minor bruising really and I was still feeling pain six weeks later.
“If it gets you in the wrong spot it can be quite debilitating.
“It will be interesting to see how David Warner pulls up from a blow in the ribs.”
Fox Cricket’s Kath Loughnan provided an update on Warner’s injury during the second session of day three.
“Still no David Warner with Jhye Richardson the substitute fielder,” Loughnan said on Fox Cricket.
“Cricket Australia have just told me Dave Warner has severely bruised ribs.
“He had a scan overnight which cleared him of any fracture, but he still is in severe discomfort with badly bruised ribs.
“He may come on at some point this afternoon. They are just going to have to monitor him.
“This was after a nasty blow from Ben Stokes on day two."
Sri Lanka’s hopes of salvaging the second Test are fading fast as Australia’s spinners run amok on a pitch offering plenty of assistance for bowlers. FOLLOW LIVE
