As Australia prepare for the second Ashes Test, Josh Hazlewood and Australian captain Pat Cummins have started bowling in the nets. The star fast-bowling pair are racing against time to work toward a return from injury ahead of the second game. Cummins was captured training at Cricket NSW headquarters in Sydney during the Blues’ Sheffield Shield clash with Tasmania on Tuesday. He was seen bowling with strong intensity.
These positive signs in his progress have put him in contention for a comeback in the second Test at the Gabba, after he missed the series opener at Perth Stadium due to a back injury. Hazlewood, meanwhile, also practised in the nets. His presence at training marks a positive step in his recovery from a hamstring injury. At this stage, the veteran bowler remains an unlikely starter for the second Test.
Recently, Australia head coach Andrew McDonald provided a crucial update on the duo.
"It looked like a player that was nearing the completion of his rehabilitation. The intensity was there, the ball speed was there. There's a lot of positives, but now it's just really building that resilience within the soft tissue and making sure that we're not putting him in harm's way in terms of accelerating it too much,” McDonald was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Speaking on Hazlewood, McDonald mentioned that the star bowler would feature in the series at some stage.
"I know that he'll be available at some point during the series, We've got a little bit of that early rehab to go through to formulate where he may plug into the series, but we expect him to take some part in the series."