Josh Hazlewood set to exit West Indies tour early as Australia manage his workload, lights ready for historic pink-ball Test

Having overcome a series of niggling injuries to make his Test return, Josh Hazlewood is poised to leave the West Indies tour earlier than forecast, while Sabina Park’s lights get tick of approval.

Josh Hazlewood is poised to leave the West Indies tour earlier than forecast as part of his ongoing load management ahead of the Ashes.

Hazlewood, 34, had initially been included in a 16-man squad for the five Twenty20 internationals that follow the third and final Test that begins in Kingston this weekend.

However the paceman will now almost certainly join fellow three-format players Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Travis Head in being rested for the white-ball leg of the tour.

Josh Hazlewood is still expected to play the third Test. Picture: Randy Brooks/AFP

Hazlewood, who is just eight wickets away from the 300 milestone in Test cricket, will turn his attention to the white-ball series against South Africa in the Top End in August.

He has not played a Twenty20 international since last September, but remains firmly in the plans for the T20 World Cup early next year in India and Sri Lanka.

Having overcome niggling injuries that interrupted his summer and an otherwise-dominant Indian Premier League campaign, Hazlewood was given the nod for the World Test Championship final against South Africa and is poised to play the full Test series against the Windies.

Hazlewood told this masthead before the first Test that he was keen to keep playing all three formats.

“I enjoy all the formats. And I think if I played a sport where there was only one format, I’d be sort of thinking towards the end right now, but I think having the three formats, it just sort of keeps refreshing you time after time, and different challenges, and the game moves along at different paces in different formats, and things change and keeps you guessing,” Hazlewood said.

“It’s just about not necessarily retiring from a format. It’s just managing those different formats. And there’s obviously bigger series than others in different formats.”

Australia’s quicks are being managed carefully ahead of the Ashes. Picture: Randy Brooks/AFP

The T20 series against the Windies will be wrapped up inside just nine days, with two matches in Jamaica followed by three in Saint Lucia.

Mitch Marsh will captain Australia in the series, with emerging Tasmanian big-hitter Mitch Owen set to make his debut after a dominant Big Bash League campaign for the Hobart Hurricanes, and strong form for the Washington Freedom in Major League cricket.

Queenslander Xavier Bartlett shapes as a like-for-like frontrunner to replace Hazlewood in the squad after he was left out of the initial touring party despite receiving a Cricket Australia contract.

While the Ashes are the central focus for the Australian side in the coming months, plans for the T20 World Cup are running parallel, with series against the Windies, Proteas, New Zealand and India all to come before the year is out.

ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR HISTORIC TEST

Sabina Park’s new lights are all systems go for the historic third Test with Australia’s entire squad training at the venue on Wednesday night Jamaican time (Thursday morning AEST).

The pink ball fixture will be the first day-night Test in Kingston, and just the second in the Caribbean, with the light towers installed in recent weeks to a venue that first held a Test in 1930.

While the towers are considerably lower than the ones generally used in Australia’s it’s believed they have been ticked off by authorities despite some hiccups in the build-up.

The Australian team which secured the Frank Worrell Trophy at Sabina Park in 2015. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

The tourists spent more time than usual practicing high catches to adjust to the conditions.

Marnus Labuschagne, who remains with the touring party despite being on the outer from the XI, bowled seam-up with the pink Dukes for an extended period, even bowling Cameron Green, the man who replaced him at No. 3.

Labuschagne also spent time with the wicketkeeping gloves before batting at the end of the session after the incumbents in the XI.

Frontline bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon didn’t bowl as they manage their workloads between Tests.The session will be the Aussies’ only hitout under lights ahead of the Test.