Australia lose Josh Hazlewood for rest of Ashes; Consolation in the form of Pat Cummins' return

Australia's Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the Ashes due to injury setbacks, leaving the team without a key bowler.

Australia have copped a major setback ahead of the Adelaide Test, with head coach Andrew McDonald confirming that Josh Hazlewood will miss the remainder of the Ashes. The seamer’s Achilles problem, on top of an earlier hamstring issue, has ended any hope of a late-series return and leaves Australia without one of their most reliable control bowlers.

Josh Hazlewood bowls on day four of the ICC World Test Championship final. (AFP)

McDonald admitted the mood around Josh Hazlewood was sombre after a second injury derailment in quick succession. “Really flat for him. A couple of setbacks that we didn’t see coming,” McDonald said. “We thought he’d play a huge part in the series. But really feel for him that he won’t get that opportunity.”

Hazlewood has barely featured since Australia’s Caribbean Tour and was pencilled in as a key part of their Ashes blueprint. Australia will again lean on their pace depth, with Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and others.

Pat Cummins set for a return

The consolation for Australia is the return of Pat Cummins, who is set to slot straight back in as captain and spearhead in Adelaide after a layoff with a lower-back issue. Cummins hasn’t played since July, but McDonald believes the build-up work at training has been as close to match intensity as possible.

“This is something we’ve done with Pat before with long-ish layoffs,” McDonald explained. “He simulated pretty much what a match will look like with multiple spells. We feel as though he’ll be as best prepared as can be.” Those long-staged spells are designed to mimic the stop-start rhythm of a Test and convince the staff that Cummins can get through the demands of a full match without breaking down again.

Strategically, Australia now have to rebuild their plans around a pace group missing Hazlewood’s relentless control but regaining Cummins’ heavy length and leadership. Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and the back-up quicks will be asked to stretch, yet it is the emotional hit of losing Hazlewood that McDonald kept circling back to. For the coach and the dressing-room, this Ashes has become a balancing act between managing bodies and protecting dreams, a few stories underline that more starkly than Hazlewood watching the series he was supposed to dominate from the sidelines.