Josh Hazlewood confident he’ll play all five Tests in series

“He was swinging and bouncing. All the batsmen were playing some nasty shots and getting caught. England be careful, you’re doing the same thing. “They came up short and our fast bowlers looked fresh and sharp last night.

“Will England win a Test? Yes, but I think it will be close to that, maybe 2-2. Perth is the most important Test. If England lose in Perth, they will lose 3-1. If you win in Perth, it will be 2-2.”

Hazlewood and Starc, aged 34 and 35 respectively, are entering a career phase that often sees the end for fast bowlers, but Hazlewood insists he can play all five Tests this summer.

“It’s the fast bowler’s life, everyone carries some sort of a niggle,” Hazlewood said of Cummins. “My body feels great right now, I’m very confident I’ll get through all five without any drama.”

Regardless of his fitness history, Hazlewood has made a noticeable improvement with age in terms of his skill and results.

In the first 40 Tests of his career up to 2018, Hazlewood took over a respectable 151 wickets at 26.84, batting every 57.3 balls.

But in the last 36 matches Hazlewood has achieved figures even superior to Cummins’, with 144 wickets at 21.45 and a strike rate of 46.9 balls per wicket. At 24.21, Hazlewood’s career Test bowling average is now at its lowest since 2015.

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The stop-start nature of the Perth ODI was, to some extent, a potential banana peel in terms of injuries and Hazlewood said it was a relief to get through without any setbacks and head to Adelaide.

“These games are always unfavorable for fast players,” he said.

“It’s a balance of trying to stay warm and staying in the moment, especially when the breaks are so short.”

Off-ramp: Konstas makes another cameo in Victoria win

Sam Konstas hit two ramp shots on Tuesday afternoon. The first went for four but the second cost him the stump.

These are the extremes of watching Konstas right now; The 20-year-old incumbent Test opener ended his two-match Sheffield Shield and one-day cup stand at the Junction Oval with scores of nil, 53 and 20 from 16 balls.

Konstas has one more Shield match against Queensland at the Gabba before the selectors name their squad for the first Ashes Test in Perth.

Former Test batsman Mike Hussey has suggested that 20-year-old Konstas needs a few seasons in Shield cricket before returning to Test level.

“I’d love to see Sam come back to Shield cricket, stay there for a year or two, score a lot of runs for NSW and learn about his game,” Hussey told Fox Cricket during the first ODI between Australia and India in Perth.

“I really feel for the young man if I’m honest. When given the opportunity against India last year, we played some amazing innings that we saw at the MCG and left us all blown away, but we all knew that wasn’t a sustainable way to do well in Test match cricket.”

“Obviously he’s got tremendous talent, but he’s still young. He’s still trying to figure out what his best shot is.”

Kurtis Patterson and Konstas looked to be leading NSW towards a successful chase in the match which was reduced to 36 overs due to rain.

The 54-man haul in just five overs ended with Konstas’ run to Cam McClure, which was followed by a wicket-rush. Chasing 184 for 9-155, the Blues looked well and truly out of the game.

But all-rounder Charlie Stobo (47) took 19 off Todd Murphy’s penultimate over to start with a thumping six and then, aided by a misfield, turn the game around, which had long looked likely to be finished by Victoria.

Needing just six runs from the last six balls, Stobo was denied the first ball for a single, but then slid the second over to give the home side their second win in two matches with a five-run lead.

Stobo, who had previously taken 3-32 with the ball, was the main reason the Blues came so close.

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