England superstar Mark Wood cleared of injury, set to face Australia

CA have not confirmed the severity of Hazlewood’s injury, which makes him doubtful for the second Test in Brisbane, which starts on December 4. Hamstring injuries generally require at least 21 days of recovery. Hazlewood will not be traveling to Perth.

Considering Australia missed Cummins in the first Test, Doggett is likely to get plenty of green space after a promising couple of seasons domestically. Doggett has taken 13 wickets in two Shield matches for South Australia this season at an average of 14.69.

Next up is long-term Test resident Neser, who, as this byline reveals, has been added to the Australia squad for the first Test to cover Hazlewood and uncapped Sean Abbott. Abbott also suffered a hamstring strain against Victoria.

Beyond that, there are hopes that Richardson could feature later in the series if necessary, but the talented speedster has had a miserable few years with injuries.

Neser was informed by the Australian selectors on Friday evening. He made his debut against England at the Adelaide Oval in 2021 and played two Tests. The 35-year-old, who plays state cricket for Queensland, has taken 14 wickets at 24.28 in three Shield matches this season.

The Hazlewood blow came as England operative Mark Wood’s hamstring damage was cleared with scans, but further questions were raised about the suitability of the visitors’ preparation for the torrid conditions in Perth after former star seamer James Anderson tipped Australia to win the series.

Ben Stokes’ men have just a few days to get used to one of the fastest and liveliest tracks in world cricket after completing their only practice match against the Lions on Saturday.

England’s Bazballers had no trouble taming the furry pitch at Lilac Hill in suburban Perth, but they will face a very different deck when they match Australia’s fast pace at Optus Stadium.

The lack of intensity in the training game and the Lions’ limping dismissal of Stokes were not the only takeaways from the footage released by the ECB of their captain’s six-wicket haul.

The lack of excitement on the field was also evident from the way Stokes arched his back to get the bounce, which was only barely above the batsmen’s waist height.

Zak Crawley, one of England’s top three first-innings scorers, was less than convincing in his comments on the suitability of the Lilac Hill circuit for touring players.

Crawley said of England’s preparations: “Cricket is cricket – it’s right there. We’re doing everything we can with what we’ve got – we think we’ll be ready next week.”

“I think we’re getting used to the weather, the flies. It’s good preparation. I feel like we’ll be ready for next week.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has expressed doubts about the visitors opting to play a de facto home match as their only warm-up game. Most of Perth’s starting XI has not played a first-class match since the beginning of September.

“We’ve all seen these games before; the intensity drops,” Vaughan told this imprint before the game this week.

“A day and a half can be tough [of day two]But you enter the third day and there is no point in playing.

“Is the preparation the right preparation? When you have all these players who have not only played here but haven’t played cricket in months, they make the adage that they will be mentally fresh.”

However, Wood remains available for the first Test after recovering from injury. He will enter the series with just eight overs against the Lions and has not played a competitive game in nine months due to a knee injury.

“Following precautionary scans on Friday, England fast bowler Mark Wood has been cleared of any concerns regarding his left hamstring,” the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement released on Saturday.

“Wood will continue training as planned ahead of the first Test in Perth.”

Former England seamer Anderson, who was part of the successful season in 2010-11 as well as the whitewashes against Australia in 2006-07 and 2013-14 and heavy losses in 2017-18 and 2021-22, is tipping Australia to win the series. But his prediction did not come true without adverse effects.

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“Australia have been so strong and consistent in their team selection over the last 10 years that this was probably their weakest team. [in the last 15 years]Anderson told TNT Sports:

“There are doubts about who will be in the top three, the absence of Pat Cummins is huge. There are certainly question marks there and cracks that England could potentially expose. “There’s a big chance England can come out on top early.

“But I don’t think England are much of favourites – I’d say Australia are still favourites. “They still have a lot of quality in their batting line-up, they still have a lot of quality in their bowlers even though Cummins is missing.

“It’s a tough place to call, so I’d say Australia.”