Australia have suffered a huge blow ahead of the Ashes, with Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the opening Test in Perth with a hamstring injury three days after initially being cleared when he left the field during New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield game against Victoria at the SCG.
Hazlewood will not travel to Perth this weekend, and Queensland seamer Michael Neser has been added to the squad, which has also lost Sean Abbott to a hamstring injury.
Pat Cummins had already been ruled out of at least the opening Test as he recovers from a back injury.
“Initial scans Wednesday were clear of muscle strain, however follow-up imaging today has confirmed the injury,” a CA statement on Saturday said. “Early imaging can occasionally underestimate low-grade muscle injuries.”
The latest injury means that Brendan Doggett could be closing in a Test debut with even more onus now on Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland.
Hazlewood, who sits on 295 Test wickets, had bowled superbly in the white-ball matches against India last month and again looked in good rhythm in his Shield outing. However, after completing his spell on the third morning he told Steven Smith, who was captaining NSW and will lead Australia in Perth, that he was feeling some tightness in his hamstring and Smith told him to leave the field immediately.
Hazlewood walked to a clinic next door to the SCG to have a scan which, before the match had ended, came back clear. Cummins, who had been at the ground to the see the physios before speaking at a commercial engagement, said Hazlewood had been in good spirits after the result.
Last season Hazlewood missed three of the five Tests against India due to firstly a side strain then a calf injury.
Since 2014, Australia have only twice played a Test at home without Cummins and Hazlewood, but won on both occasions – against England in 2021 and West Indies 2022.
