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Josh Hazlewood’s road back to Test cricket has taken another detour, Cricket Australia confirming the fast bowler felt soreness in his left Achilles while rehabilitating a hamstring strain.
“Josh Hazlewood reported achilles soreness this week during his rehabilitation from recent hamstring injury,” a CA release noted on Friday. “It is a low-grade issue and he is expected to recommence running and bowling next week.”
That line offers some comfort, yet the timeline matters. Hazlewood was pencilled in to link up with the Ashes squad in Brisbane and gradually build towards the Boxing Day Test. Those plans have now been scrapped; the right-armer will stay in Sydney, working under state and national medical staff, before any fresh travel dates are set.
Immediate impact
• Unavailable for the second Test in Adelaide, which always felt optimistic.
• Melbourne and Sydney remain possibilities, though he now faces a race against time.
• Australia are already without Sean Abbott (hamstring) and have delayed Pat Cummins’ comeback until Adelaide.
Recurring theme
Hazlewood’s frustration lies not only in this setback but in its familiarity. Recent summers have followed a pattern: one injury snowballs into another, often in the lower leg region. A side strain ruled him out of three home Tests in 2022-23, only for lingering Achilles pain to cost him the India tour and the World Test Championship final. Last season featured a calf strain, then a hamstring tear for New South Wales in early November, the very strain he is currently nursing.
What the experts say
Sports-science staff insist the new Achilles issue is minor, more inflammation than damage. Even so, miles in the legs—actual overs at match pace—cannot be simulated entirely in the gym. Former national physiotherapist Alex Kountouris told ABC radio this week, “Fast bowlers hate breaks in rhythm. Every time you stop and start, the load on tendons goes up.” He is not involved in the case but has seen enough similar scenarios.
Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald remains publicly calm. While speaking in Perth on Wednesday he said, without hyperbole, the tournament planners will “give Josh every chance” to feature later in the series. Internal chatter suggests Melbourne is still on the whiteboard, though just in pencil for now.
Squad balance
With Hazlewood and Abbott sidelined, selectors have leaned on the experienced trio of Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland. Lance Morris, the Western Australia quick dubbed “The Wild Thing”, is on stand-by, but management are wary of throwing him into an Ashes cauldron without at least one Sheffield Shield outing.
Bigger picture
Australia enter this series top of the World Test Championship table, yet depth has already been examined. Cummins’ delayed return from wrist surgery is a separate concern, and Starc’s workload must be managed after a busy white-ball schedule. Hazlewood’s absence stretches options further and nudges selectors toward the uncapped.
For Hazlewood himself, the frustration is obvious. He turned 34 last week, the age at which many quicks begin to count series rather than seasons. A clean run through to Melbourne, or even Sydney, would not only help Australia in the present but also assure player and management that his body can withstand the spikes in workload an Ashes summer demands.
Next steps
Hazlewood is expected to start light running and bowl off shortened run-ups early next week. If those sessions pass without incident, he could face a stringent fitness test in mid-December. Clear that hurdle and the door to the Boxing Day Test re-opens; fail, and attention shifts to the SCG or, more realistically, the mid-January white-ball fixtures.
Either way, Australia will proceed cautiously. No one inside the camp wants a repeat of last summer’s rush-back-and-break cycle. As one physiotherapist put it quietly at the SCG this week: “Better to miss one more Test than three.”
