Ashes 2021: Recovering Josh Hazlewood no guarantee to face England in Boxing Day Test at MCG
He may have rejoined the Aussie camp in Melbourne after missing the Adelaide Test but Josh Hazlewood remains an unlikely inclusion to face England in the Boxing Day Test.
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Fitness and form have been declared no hurdles for Mitchell Starc and Marcus Harris’s paths to Boxing Day, although Josh Hazlewood might need a Christmas miracle to join Pat Cummins on the list of inclusions.
Hazlewood rejoined Australia’s camp at 5pm on Thursday and will be assessed by Cricket Australia’s medicos at the MCG nets on Friday morning.
It was Hazlewood’s choice to travel down from Sydney for Christmas with partner Cherina, who has family in Melbourne, and not a sign that he is an automatic inclusion after suffering a minor side strain at the Gabba.
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Coach Justin Langer said Starc didn’t even require a fitness test on his rib injury and was unlucky to be pipped by Marnus Labuschagne as man of the match at Adelaide Oval.
Steve Smith thought Starc hit the best lengths of his career in the second Test with Cricket Australia’s hierarchy thrilled at the left-armer’s leadership in Cummins’ absence.
But it is Harris, 29, who remains the final piece of Australia’s jigsaw puzzle, with his Test average dropping to 22.2 after 12 matches that have not included a century.
Harris made three and 23 at Adelaide Oval — dismissed twice by Jos Buttler screamers, which both preceded schoolboy drops by England’s erratic wicketkeeper against Marnus Labuschagne (twice) and Steve Smith.
Langer has long bemoaned Australia’ lack of chemistry at the crease to start an innings and has declared Harris deserves another chance on his adopted home ground after making a mountain of domestic runs both in Australia and in England.
Harris will become superstar David Warner’s fifth new opening partner from his past six Boxing Day Tests as Australia has cycled through more openers than a speed dating convention without finding a perfect match.
“It’s something we’ve talked publicly about and privately about, really cementing … for the long-term our opening partnership,” Langer said on Thursday.
“It’s very, very important. We’ve chopped and changed a lot over the last five or six years and testament to that is how many opening partners Davey Warner’s had over his career.
“Certainly, one of the building blocks of a great team is the opening partnership and the top three, and we’re determined to get that right.”
This could be Harris’s last chance to prove he is the chosen one — Langer and Australia’s selectors have ended the Test careers of fellow openers Joe Burns and Aaron Finch after recent Boxing Day matches.
Warner has batted with all of Burns (2019), Cameron Bancroft (2017), Matthew Renshaw (2016) and Chris Rogers (2013-14) at the MCG, while he was joined by Ed Cowan for his first two Boxing Day Tests.
In Warner’s absence, Langer went with Harris and Finch (2018) and Burns and Wade last year.
Langer said he felt like “Superman” when Australian legends backed him publicly in his playing days and now the coach hopes his strong support for Harris can finally help his international career take flight.
“It’s nice to know people have got your back, that’s probably one of the most important things in life, actually,” Langer said.
“When Steve Waugh or Ricky Ponting or Mark Taylor or Allan Border said you’re in the team you feel like superman.
“You feel like you’re important to the team, and Marcus Harris is important to the team.”
“What we see in the nets, what we see in domestic cricket all adds up to what potentially is a very good Test career.
Langer has known Harris, 29, for more than half his life and insisted that he had the tools to make it work alongside Warner.
Harris has made runs in England — but just not many against England.
He posted a second XI century for Leicestershire in June and followed that up with a 50-over century for the county.
There was also a beautiful 137 in the second innings of a Sheffield Shield match against a NSW attack featuring Sean Abbot, Trent Copeland and Nathan Lyon to start the summer.
Langer said Harris had shown “glimpses” at Test level.
“We’re ticking all our whiteboard marks off in terms of batting,” Langer said.
“Cameron Green and Marcus Harris haven’t made the runs yet. But, geez, they’re looking good.
“He’ll play in the Test, no worries about that. This is his home ground, he’s played a lot at the MCG.
“He’s got a good sense of humour, he brings good energy to the team and we know he’s a very good player.”
Gillespie: What debut would mean for Indigenous Australia
Scott Boland is in serious contention to become only the second male Indigenous Test player for Australia in 144 years.
The sole member of a regrettably exclusive club, fellow fast bowler Jason Gillespie says it would be a watershed moment for cricket in this country if Gulidjan man Boland is handed a shock Boxing Day debut as a track specialist at his home ground, the MCG.
Josh Hazlewood is highly unlikely to return from a side strain in the third Test, while Australian high-performance staff are also keeping a close eye on greenhorns Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser following an exhausting Test for them in Adelaide.
No decisions will be made until all the bowlers are assessed by medicos on Thursday, but rather than being a back-up, News Corp understands 32-year-old Victorian quick Boland is a legitimate chance to claim a baggy green.
Gillespie, who is familiar with Boland as an opposition coach in the Sheffield Shield, lauded the experienced right-armer as a “captain’s dream” and said to have a second Indigenous male Test player would be a historic moment for the game in Australia.
“I love what Scott brings to the table,” 259 Test-wicket great Gillespie told News Corp.
“He’s a fantastic bowler, he performs in all conditions and he gives his all. A captain’s dream.
“If that was to be the case (a debut) it would be a proud day for Aboriginal Australia.”
Opener Marcus Harris is set to hold his place at the top of the order, while there are no injury concerns for Neser, Richardson or Mitchell Starc.
But given Neser had hamstring issues at the start of the summer and Richardson has just played his first Test in nearly three years, it’s not automatic that they would just be pushed through back-to-back Tests.
Starc tweaked his back while batting in Adelaide, although that’s less of a concern than simply trying to manage him through the summer after an Ashes preparation of T20 cricket only.
That said, Starc might be more likely to be rested in Sydney.
Boland has an excellent first-class bowling average of 26 from 79 matches for Victoria, and his record at the MCG is even better, with an average in the low 20s.
That’s significant because Pat Cummins is the only Australian fast bowler in recent times to boast a strong Test record at the MCG, which has been a backbreaker for pacemen, and has been like kryptonite even for a star like Hazlewood, who is arguably the world’s No. 2 seamer.
Starc’s MCG record is solid without being brilliant, while you only have to ask Jackson Bird how arduous the MCG can be for even extremely reliable bowlers – he hasn’t played Test cricket again since a forgettable day at the office in Melbourne during the last Ashes in 2017-18.
Boland was the fifth Australian Indigenous player when he was blooded in the ODI team back in 2016, but to join Gillespie in the male Test ranks would be even more special.
The Victorian told News Corp in an interview four years ago that he only learned of his Indigenous heritage as an adult, and he has remained eager for more knowledge about his ancestry.
“We found it out because my grandad was adopted, so there was a gap in the family tree,” Boland told News Corp back in 2017.
“My mum’s brother wanted to find out more about our family history and stuff so he started researching. The first we heard about it we didn’t understand too much.
“But the more we’ve talked about it together – me, my brother and my mum – and the more we got involved in the Indigenous program we can tell it means so much to a lot of people.”
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