Hazlewood Prioritises Team Success Over 300 Test Wickets Ahead Of Bangladesh Series

Hazlewood prioritises team success over 300 Test wickets ahead of Bangladesh series (Image Source: IANS)

National Cricket Centre: Standing just five wickets away from the coveted milestone of 300 Test wickets, Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood said his primary focus remains on team success rather than personal glory as the side prepares for a bumper schedule of 21 Test matches over the next 12 months.

Hazlewood missed the victorious home Ashes series last summer due to a hamstring injury and subsequent calf issue. He is all set to end a 13-month absence from Test cricket when Australia take on Bangladesh in the series opener in Darwin.

Should Hazlewood reach the 300-wicket mark in Darwin, he will join an elite list of Australian fast bowling greats reaching that milestone previously - Dennis Lillee, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, and Pat Cummins. Hazlewood, however, chose to throw light on how trips to England, India, and South Africa remain the ultimate driving force for Australia's core bowling attack.

"I think every time you look ahead in sport it can bite you pretty quickly. I've always done that. I've looked at it like that literally day in day out for the last few weeks here, ticking boxes, getting workloads in. Next week's another tick, and then I guess once you get through all that, then you look at Darwin. So everything else is a long way away. Just take it as it comes.

"This group's been together for quite a long time now – the majority of it, anyway – and the big series are obviously England and India. I haven't won in South Africa either, so there's three that are coming up … a few boxes to tick off there (for) not just me, (but) this whole playing group."

"That's been a driving factor during this prep, in the back of your head, and even (in) the months leading into it. (They're) some real big Test series, and they're all away, so (it's) tough competition and hopefully we get the job done," Hazlewood told reporters on the sidelines of Australia’s training camp on Thursday.

With workload management set to play a crucial role across the intense 12-month calendar, Hazlewood also expressed his desire to play alongside fellow quick Scott Boland, who delivered strong performances in his absence during the Ashes.

"I'd love to play more with Scotty. We're obviously a little bit similar, but I think there's still a lot of differences in our bowling. Every time he's come in, he's done unbelievably well. His career just keeps getting better and better the older he gets.

"I think there's enough opportunities in the next 12 months, 18 months for us to play a lot of cricket hopefully together, that'd be a nice one to tick off. But I think as four quicks, we've got Ness (Michael Neser) and Doggy (Brendan Doggett) there as well. So I think we'll have to lean on all six at some point in the next sort of 18 months," he added.

Having spent the past few weeks training at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane to simulate Test match workloads, Hazlewood expressed confidence in his careful red-ball preparation.

"I think there's enough opportunities in the next 12 months, 18 months for us to play a lot of cricket hopefully together, that'd be a nice one to tick off. But I think as four quicks, we've got Ness (Michael Neser) and Doggy (Brendan Doggett) there as well. So I think we'll have to lean on all six at some point in the next sort of 18 months," he added.

"Leading into other Test series and Test matches, you're playing T20, you're playing one-dayers, you're travelling, so it's tough to fit those bowling sessions in. This has been sort of tailor-made for a Test match, which is I think should work out well. It's just trying to replicate a day in the field of Test cricket. Really, it's bowling multiple spells in a day. It's bowling back-to-back days," he concluded.

Article Source: IANS