Previously, he had scalped 14 wickets in three Test matches against the West Indies.
The highly anticipated Ashes 2025 1st Test will kick off at the Optus Stadium in Perth on November 21. But alongside captain Pat Cummins, Australia will also be missing another key figure, Josh Hazlewood, in their playing XI for the first fixture of the red-ball series.
Find out why Pat Cummins was excluded from Ashes 2025 1st Test
The hosts, who have dominated England in the last three editions of the prestigious tournament on their home soil, have been forced to enter the series opener without some of their frontline pacers. Notably, skipper Cummins’ absence for the match was long expected due to his ongoing recovery from the lumbar stress injury.
But amidst this, Australia’s another prime seamer, Josh Hazlewood, has been ruled out of the Ashes 2025 1st Test. Unfortunately, while participating in the Sheffield Shield 2025 fixture between New South Wales and Victoria as preparation for the upcoming high-magnitude clashes, the 34-year-old sustained a hamstring injury. Previously, he had scalped 14 wickets in three Test matches against the West Indies.
Besides Hazlewood, another Australian paceman, Sean Abbott, has also suffered an injury in the same Sheffield Shield fixture that has sidelined him from the opening Test in Perth. This series of injury setbacks has forced the hosts to heavily rely on their remaining two pace stalwarts, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland, for the series opener against Ben Stokes and Co.
Usman Khawaja, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Brendan Doggett, and Scott Boland.
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On the other hand, the visitors would hope to mount pressure on a relatively weakened Australian side, which has been struck by some major injury setbacks. The English squad, which is yet to register a win in a Test down under since 2010-11, would be eyeing an early lead in the series.
However, both Cummins and Hazlewood are expected to join the hosts’ squad ahead of the second match in Brisbane. Their inclusion in the side would strengthen Australia’s fiery pace attack for the remaining fixtures of the marquee red-ball series. Previously, they had whitewashed the visitors with a scoreline of 4-0, 4-0 and 5-0, respectively, in the latest three Ashes at home.
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