Josh Hazlewood is all but ruled out of next week’s second Ashes Test in Brisbane, yet Australia remain confident the seamer will play later in the series. Pat Cummins, meanwhile, is edging towards a comeback that could arrive as early as the Gabba.
Hazlewood strained a hamstring during Sheffield Shield duty and missed the Perth opener. An initial scan showed little damage, but the discomfort lingered. He will link up with the squad in Brisbane to continue rehabilitation. “He’s working through the first week of his rehab,” McDonald said. “I’m not sure that we need to give an update on that. Once he gets further down the track and [we] have some rough timelines, then we’ll be in a position to communicate that. I know that he’ll be available at some point during the series. We’ve got a little bit of that early rehab to go through to formulate where he may plug into the series, but we expect him to take some part in the series.”
Cummins trained strongly in Perth and had pencilled in a fourth-day bowling spell, only for the match to finish inside two. That forced a slight tweak: he travelled home to Sydney and will now bowl a day later than planned. The captain’s sprint to fitness looks promising, though the call on Brisbane may still go to the wire. “Once we see him again we’ll be able to then join the dots as to what that potentially looks like,” McDonald said. “But for those who saw him in Perth, I did say this a while back that he’ll be up and bowling…and people will be sitting there questioning why he’s not playing. It looked like a player that was nearing the completion of his rehabilitation. The intensity was there, the ball speed was there. There’s a lot of positives, but now it’s just really building that resilience within the soft tissue and making sure that we’re not putting him in harm’s way in terms of accelerating it too much.
“But it will be a genuine discussion leading into this Test match. That may be one that eventuates late for us. A little bit to work through but it’s nearing completion, which is really, really positive.”
If Cummins returns and the day-night Test stretches the distance, he will still enjoy an eight-day break before Adelaide. That spacing could prove critical, as Cummins himself has admitted consecutive Tests might be tricky straight after injury.
On the field, Mitchell Starc covered every base in Perth, taking 10 for the match and a career-best 7 for 58 in England’s first innings. Scott Boland, expensive on day one, redeemed himself with a decisive new-ball spell second time around. Debutant Brendan Doggett chipped in with five wickets, underlining the depth Australia can call on. McDonald accepted partial responsibility for Boland’s rocky start, noting the coaching staff had asked him to go too full before allowing him to revert to a more comfortable length.
With Brisbane looming, selectors must balance medical advice with the series schedule. Hazlewood’s absence opens a place for Doggett or Boland, while Cummins, if cleared, would automatically reclaim the new ball. Starc’s form is undimmed, and bowling coach Daniel Vettori hinted the left-armer might even be managed later in the campaign, should workloads creep up.
England, beaten inside two days, have had their own conversations about resilience and rhythm. For Australia, though, the immediate focus is straightforward: get Hazlewood right, make the smartest call on Cummins, and try to keep the quicks who did play in Perth as fresh as possible.
