Australia will have their regular captain Pat Cummins fit and raring to go for the third Ashes Test against England in Adelaide next week; however, the hosts will be without the services of their third lead pacer Josh Hazlewood for the entirety of the series. Australian head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed that Hazlewood was managing a hamstring injury he sustained during the Sheffield Shield appearance last month and the writing was on the wall after the last week's Achilles injury, which delayed his return further.
"Really flat for him," McDonald told reporters on Tuesday. "A couple of setbacks that we didn't see coming. We thought he'd play a huge part in the series. But really feel for him that he won't get that opportunity," McDonald added, while being glad for Cummins, who will finally get to play in the Ashes and walk out for the coin toss, wearing the blazer.
"There won't be any match opportunities for Pat (before Adelaide) – and this is something we've done with Pat before long-ish layoffs, where we've put some time and effort into rebuilding his body. He was out at Allan Border Field whilst everyone was at the Gabba; he simulated pretty much what a match will look like out there with multiple spells.
"So we feel as though he'll be as best prepared as can be. He was well ahead of where we thought he'd be at and it did create a real live conversation for (Cummins playing in) Brisbane," McDonald added, saying that Cummins' inclusion in the day-night fixture was debated and considered for the longest time, before putting it on the back burner and readying the skipper for the Adelaide Test directly.
"It was debated a lot leading into that Test match. With that in mind, us seeing him further advanced, we feel he'll be really well placed for the challenges of Adelaide albeit (it's still) a long way off.
"We feel as though the simulation in the nets has got him skill-ready. His body's ready to go. Barring anything else happening in the next week, I'd be expecting Pat to be tossing the coin and putting the blazer on," he added. With Cummins and Nathan Lyon most likely to return to Australia's XI, it will be interesting to see which two of Michael Neser, Brendan Doggett and Scott Boland sit out at the Adelaide Oval next week.
Australia already have taken a 2-0 lead in the series and will be eager to make it 3-0 and retain the Ashes, before getting to Melbourne and Sydney.
