He expects Harry Brook to adapt to conditions.
The Ashes 2025 is just around the corner and the build-up for the oldest and most prestigious rivalry in the sport is picking up pace. Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood has opened up about the upcoming home series at an event to promote Play Cricket week.
The two arch rivals are set to lock horns in a blockbuster five-match series starting from November 21. As per ESPNcricinfo, Hazlewood spoke about his workload management and the England batting unit.
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Australia have been utterly dominant in the last three home Ashes series, winning 14 out of 15 matches. England batting line-ups touring Down Under have often crumbled against the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris, and against the current crop of Aussie pacers.
However, there is a sense of positivity around the current England line-up. Under Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, they have played an attacking brand of cricket that has left the opponents shell-shocked at times.
Hazlewood is vary of it, rating them as the best England line-up he has faced.
“I think a fresh face like Harry Brook might find it easier. There’s no baggage behind him and he can just come out and play with freedom as he does. Joe’s probably in the form of his life as well. So they’re an unbelievable batting line, to be honest. The top seven have done really well…so it’s a challenge,” said Hazlewood.
Harry Brook is currently the number one batter in ICC Test rankings followed by Joe Root. He has not scored a century on Australian soil and averages 35.68. But despite that, England do have a promising line-up for the tour in Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Brook, Root, Stokes, Jamie Smith, Ollie Pope, and Jacob Bethell.
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Fitness has been a major issue for Josh Hazlewood in recent times, especially in the longer format. He has transitioned himself into an all-format pacer but that has meant he has missed out on some Test cricket. He missed three Tests during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy due to injuries.
Recently, he played all three Tests against West Indies, and was rested for the following T20I series. He then featured in five of the six matches in the white-ball series versus South Africa. His bowling partners Pat Cummins and Mitch Starc haven’t played any cricket since the Tests. Hazlewood, however, wants to build up his workload by staying in action.
“It felt like over the last 12 months, the best way for me to go about it is just keep on ticking over, keep playing, not having too long off bowling. I find…getting back to that intensity and volume is quite tough for me. So if I can just keep staying up there, match intensity as long as I can, then that’s sort of the best way for me to go about it,” he added.
