Australian Test paceman Josh Hazlewood says bowlers want to take control of ball shining duties
AUSSIE star Josh Hazlewood believes it’s time for Australia’s bowling attack to not only help lead the team but take ownership of the ball on and off the field.
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JOSH Hazlewood believes it’s time for Australia’s bowling attack to not only help lead the team - but take ownership of the ball.
Following the infamous events in Cape Town, Hazlewood has spent the past few weeks reflecting on his renewed responsibilities to leadership and changing dressing room culture, as he prepares to spearhead Australian cricket’s new era in England next month.
Hazlewood admits that there are important lessons to be learnt for the bowlers out of the ball-tampering scandal which cast a dark shadow over the trade they all specialise in — taking wickets for Australia.
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As Australia looks to fill its leadership void, the 27-year-old says he sees no reason why a bowler couldn’t be appointed as the new Test vice-captain, with both he and Pat Cummins considered genuine candidates for the official role.
But Hazlewood’s big push is for one of the bowling group’s own to take over from Cameron Bancroft and David Warner as Australia’s designated ‘ball shiner’.
It shapes as one of the most scrutinised jobs in Australian cricket, and Hazlewood says that after what has happened, it would be wise to now keep the responsibility in the hands of a bowler.
“When we’re not bowling is when we can take a bit more control,” Hazlewood told News Corp Australia.
“It’s hard when you are actually bowling. You get it two seconds before you’re about to run in and you see which one is the shiny side and which is the rough.
“(In Cape Town) … the umpires never changed it so we never suspected anything to be going on.
“The four of us (Hazlewood, Lyon, Cummins and Mitchell Starc) have played a lot of cricket now and Nathan Lyon was even the shiner during the tour match in South Africa and did a pretty good job.
“It’s probably taking more control of who is shining the ball … on the field and off the field, talking about it.
“We’re going to do everything right and everything possible to put that forward to the group.”
Hazlewood said he felt for Bancroft and Warner in the sense that their actions were designed to advantage the bowlers rather than themselves.
“ … It was pretty unselfish what they did, but it still crossed the line,” he said.
Australia head to England for the June one-day series without Starc and Cummins — and Hazlewood will be the one experienced head in charge of a young cast of quicks.
Hazlewood is focused on helping mentor 150km/h rookie giant Billy Stanlake in the UK.
Some figures inside Cricket Australia have internally tried to talk down the prospect of a fast bowler being vice-captain. It’s a rarity in world cricket, although James Anderson is England’s current deputy.
Hazlewood said in a team as raw as Australia is without Steve Smith and Warner — the bowling attack formed the backbone of the leadership options lining up to support new skipper, Tim Paine.
“I think leadership comes pretty naturally to me,” said Hazlewood.
“Even over the last couple of years, it’s become a very different team to when I started and I’ve become a leader pretty early on in my career.
“A lot of the batters are starting off or at different parts of their careers. The bowling attack is steady and we’ve all pretty much cemented our spots in the team.
“Whether the VC title is next to our name isn’t going to change too much with how we go about things as a bowling unit working with Painey … but we’re obviously open to it and we’ll see what happens.”
Hazlewood said the bowlers are determined to help lead Australia’s bid to win back the public.
“The way we want to play obviously needs to change from what it has been the past few years,” he said.
“We probably drifted into some really bad habits. We want to win on the field but also play with respect for not only who we’re playing against but for the umpires and fans.”