Ashes series officially over for Australian paceman Josh Hazlewood
Josh Hazlewood has officially been ruled out of the remainder of the Ashes series as he continues to recover from a side complaint.
Scott Boland’s Ashes fairytale looks set to continue, with Cricket Australia confirming that paceman Josh Hazlewood will be unavailable for the fifth Test in Hobart.
Hazlewood suffered a minor side strain during the first Test in Brisbane last month, and the 30-year-old was sidelined for the following three matches in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
It was a frustrating blow for the Aussies – in 56 Tests, the New South Welshman has taken 215 wickets at a formidable average of 25.63.
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However, Hazelwood’s absence has hardly been a problem for the Australian Test side, with replacement quicks Jhye Richardson and Scott Boland each snaring five-wicket hauls against England’s hapless batting attack.
Boland has been particularly impressive with the ball – the Victorian cemented his place in Ashes folklore by claiming 6/7 on day three of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. His Test bowling average currently sits at 8.27.
On Friday evening, Langer said it was likely Hazlewood would miss next week’s Hobart Test match due to the lingering side complaint.
“Unfortunately Josh hasn‘t come up, hopefully he’ll be right for the white-ball games,” he told reporters at stumps.
“It’s been really tough on him, he has been really hanging out to play in this Ashes series like everyone.
“He has missed three games, so to have one of our premier fast bowlers out of the series, I guess it is a bit like England missing one of their premier fast bowlers – we‘ve missed big Josh.
“At this stage, if I was a guessing man I‘d say that he probably won’t play the next Test match but we will wait and see.”
On Saturday morning, CA confirmed that Hazlewood would remain in Sydney for the next three weeks for further rehabilitation.
“Hazlewood, the National Selection Panel and Sports Science and Sports Medicine Team agreed he would remain in Sydney for the next three weeks before joining the squad for the Dettol One-Day International Series against New Zealand and Dettol T20 International Series against Sri Lanka,” the CA statement read.
“The New Zealand and Sri Lanka Series will form part of his preparations for the Test and white ball tour of Pakistan from early March.”
The three-match ODI series against New Zealand gets underway on Sunday, January 30.
Meanwhile, Boland was sent for scans on Friday afternoon after tumbling on the SCG deck while delivering the final ball of the middle session.
The 32-year-old did not bowl for the remainder of day three, but Langer confirmed he would be available if needed the following morning.
“He went for a scan just after the (tea) break and we were looking at his ribs on the computer screen about half an hour later,” Langer explained.
“So thankfully there‘s no fractures.
“He‘s going to be sore in the cartilage between his ribs but hopefully he’ll be right to bowl tomorrow or in the second innings.
“Whether it‘s tomorrow morning, but in the second innings definitely.”
England was 7/258 at stumps on day three, still trailing Australia by 158 runs.
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