Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes that if fully fit, Josh Hazlewood will be given the nod ahead of Scott Boland to start the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston. Hazlewood was initially withdrawn from Australia\u2019s World Test Championship (WTC) squad due to side soreness following his truncated IPL stint, although he was later cleared of any injury. Despite Hazlewood\u2019s potential return, Boland has continued to impress and make a strong case for his inclusion in Australia\u2019s pace attack.<\/p>\n
Hazlewood, who has played only four Tests in the WTC cycle due to injuries and team balance, made an impressive return against South Africa earlier this year but suffered an Achilles injury due to soft run-ups. However, Boland has had a remarkable start to his Test career, particularly with his incredible performance of 6 for 7 in the previous Ashes at the MCG. Ponting acknowledges Boland\u2019s strong form and believes he possesses the necessary skills to succeed with the Dukes ball in English conditions.<\/p>\n
Ponting stated, \u201cThe thing the selectors might be thinking about is Josh\u2019s injury record over the last few years. When you look at it, with Scotty bowling the way he is, it\u2019s a pretty compelling argument to say is he in their starting XI for the first Test.\u201d Considering the grueling schedule of five Test matches in six weeks, both teams are expected to rest some of their fast bowlers at various points throughout the series.<\/p>\n
While discussing Australia\u2019s fast-bowling options, Ponting also touched upon Pat Cummins\u2019 ambition to play all six Tests in the condensed schedule. Ponting believes Cummins can achieve this goal due to the presence of Cameron Green, Australia\u2019s all-rounder, who can share the bowling workload. Cummins had a mixed outing in India\u2019s first innings of the WTC final, taking three wickets but being plagued by no-balls that cost him crucial dismissals. Ponting attributed Cummins\u2019 no-ball issue to his lengthy layoff from competitive cricket and expressed confidence that he will improve as the game progresses.<\/p>\n
Regarding Cummins\u2019 no-ball struggles, Ponting said, \u201cSimple, he\u2019s lacking rhythm, he hasn\u2019t played for three months. He\u2019s bowled six no-balls in this innings, two [three] of them have cost him wickets\u2026but he\u2019s never been someone that I can remember that\u2019s been plagued by any kind of no-ball issue.\u201d Ponting expects Cummins to find his rhythm and perform better in the second innings of the match.<\/p>\n
As the Ashes series approaches, the Australian selectors will have some tough decisions to make regarding their pace bowling lineup. While Hazlewood remains the preferred choice if fit, Boland\u2019s impressive performances and Hazlewood\u2019s injury history could provide a compelling case for his inclusion. The battle for a spot in Australia\u2019s starting XI will intensify as the teams prepare for the highly anticipated Ashes opener at Edgbaston.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes that if fully fit, Josh Hazlewood will be given the nod ahead of Scott\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":29213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2077,1231,663,2927,1734],"class_list":["post-6291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket","tag-ashes","tag-josh-hazlewood","tag-ricky-ponting","tag-scott-boland","tag-wtc-final"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}