Six days out from the series opener, Australia’s Ashes quest has been dealt a massive blow with star fast bowler Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the first Test due to a hamstring strain.
The uncapped Brendan Doggett looks poised to make his Test debut at Perth next week after Cricket Australia confirmed that Hazlewood would not travel to the West Australian capital.
The 34-year-old left the field with hamstring soreness on day three of New South Wales’ recent Sheffield Shield clash against Victoria at the SCG, with initial scans clearing him of muscle strain. However, follow-up imaging on Saturday confirmed the injury.
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“Early imaging can occasionally underestimate low-grade muscle injuries,” CA confirmed in a statement.
The setback comes after fellow Blues fast bowler Sean Abbott was also ruled out of the first Test against England due to a similar injury sustained on the same day, while it’s currently unclear whether Hazlewood will recover before the day-night at the Gabba.
Hazlewood joins a growing list of Australian fast bowlers in the casualty ward, including Test captain Pat Cummins, speedster Lance Morris and left-armer Spencer Johnson. Queensland seamer Michael Neser, who has played two Tests since his debut in 2021, has been added to Australia’s squad as injury cover, but Doggett is expected to replace Hazlewood in the starting XI.
The South Australian, who missed the first two rounds of this season’s Sheffield Shield with a minor hamstring injury, has taken 13 wickets at 14.69 for the Redbacks this summer, while he claimed 11 scalps during last season’s final against Queensland in Adelaide. Across his last 12 first-class matches, he has 57 wickets at 20.40.
“He’s been bowling really well the last couple of games from what I’ve seen,” Cummins said of Doggett this week.
“He missed the first (Sheffield Shield) game or two, but he’s come back really strongly. He’s really well placed to be vying for a spot in that first Test. It’s always nice to have a squad full of people in form, and he’s certainly one of those guys.”
Doggett earned his maiden Test call-up in 2018, touring the United Arab Emirates for a two-match series against Pakistan, but his seven-year wait for a baggy green looks set to come to an end this week.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Doggett told reporters last week.
”I feel like if I do get a call to join that squad, I’ll be ready. And then we’ll see what happens.”
Barring any further injury setbacks, Doggett will round out Australia’s pace attack for the Ashes opener alongside Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland. If selected, he’ll become Australia’s third Indigenous men’s cricketer alongside Jason Gillespie and Boland.
The loss of Hazlewood also increases the likelihood of Australia picking two all-rounders in the Perth Test, with Tasmanian opener Jake Weatherald at risk of missing out.
It also comes as a massive boost for England’s Joe Root, currently No. 1 on the ICC Test batting rankings, who has been dismissed by Hazlewood ten times in the Test arena; only one cricketer has managed the feat more often – the wounded Cummins with 11.
The injury-prone Hazlewood has now missed 13 of Australia’s 30 home Tests since the start of the 2019/20 season due to injury, with this latest setback shining a spotlight on the national side’s ageing pace attack.
It appears increasingly likely that Australia will need to manage the workloads of Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood and Boland – who possess and average age of 3 – ahead of a packed 2026/27 season, headlined by a home series against New Zealand, a Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign in India, a 150th anniversary Test at the MCG and an Ashes tour of the United Kingdom.
Australia’s vulnerable pace attack opens the door for uncapped seamers Xavier Bartlett and Fergus O’Neill to potentially earn a maiden Test call-up in the near future, while they may be required this summer if there are any further casualties.
Each member of Australia’s ‘big three’ made their Test debut at a young age – Cummins was 18, Hazlewood 23 and Starc 21 – with the trio benefiting from their early exposure to the game’s longest format. With a crop of exciting young quicks coming through the ranks, including Under-19 World Cup champions Mahli Beardman, Callum Vidler and Tom Straker, a period of transition is on the horizon.
Australia has relied heavily on Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins over the past decade. Since the start of 2015, only five fast bowlers have made their Test debut for Australia, two of which were dropped after one match – Chadd Sayers and Joe Mennie. Two others, Neser and Jhye Richardson, have collectively made five Test appearances.
Elsewhere, England speedster Mark Wood has been cleared of serious injury after undergoing scans on his hamstring, but a decision has yet to be made over his availability for next week’s Ashes opener at Perth Stadium.
On Thursday, the 35-year-old bowled eight wicketless overs during England’s warm-up match at Lilac Hill before leaving the field with stiffness in his left hamstring. After undergoing precautionary scans on Friday, Wood has been cleared of any concerns, but the Durham speedster will not bowl on day three of the intra-squad contest in Perth.
“Wood will continue to train as planned in the build-up to the first Test in Perth,” the ECB said in a statement.
While the news comes as a boost for England’s Ashes hopes, it remains to be seen whether the tourists decide to wrap Wood in cotton wool ahead of the series opener.
The first Ashes Test between Australia and England gets underway at Perth Stadium on Friday at 1.20pm AEDT.
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