Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has been sidelined for the second Ashes Test, scheduled to be played at the Adelaide Oval from Thursday, December 16.
Hazlewood suffered a side strain during the first Test in Brisbane, where his side thrashed the touring party by nine wickets. As per the reports, the Aussie quick was seen in plain clothes while boarding a flight to Sydney without his teammates around.
Hazlewood bowled only 14 overs in England’s second innings, with the Aussie skipper Pat Cummins admitting his fellow bowler was sore.
“He [Hazlewood] is a little bit sore. It was good he was able to come out today and bowl, and he got through a really good spell. But he’s a little bit sore so we’re just managing him through it’s a five-Test match summer and he’s a key for us, so we don’t want to blow him out on day two or three,” cricket.com.au quoted Cummins as saying.
“It’s nothing too serious, but I didn’t want it to turn into a huge injury. We don’t want to put him in jeopardy for the whole series, so we’ll take our time. There’s no plan yet he will sleep on it and we’ll see how he pulls up tomorrow. It was nothing scary enough to not bowl today, but still, just a little bit to make us want to manage him, which we kind of expected. We’ll keep managing it,” he added.
Opening batter David Warner is also doubtful to feature in the Adelaide Test. He injured his ribs whilst batting in the first innings, and his injury could pave the way for Usman Khawaja, who is eyeing a comeback after being dropped in the 2019 Ashes.
According to a report in Fox Sports, Jhye Richardson is all set to replace Hazlewood in the upcoming pink-ball game. It would be his third Test and first since his debut series against Sri Lanka in early 2019.
