Australian skipper Pat Cummins has admitted that soreness from Josh Hazlewood was the reason behind his mysterious absence from the bowling crease late on Day 3.
After bowling two initial spells totalling eight overs early in England’s second innings, Hazlewood was not seen bowling again until the two teams returned to the ground on Day 4, prompting concerns over his fitness overnight.
Following Australia’s nine-wicket win over England, Cummins lifted the lid on his fellow paceman’s injury status.
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“He’s a little bit sore [from] yesterday, so we’re just trying to get him through,” he told former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist in a post-match interview.
“Obviously this is a five-Test match series so we didn’t want to try and break him yesterday, but yeah he pulled up okay today so we’ll keep managing.”
Hazlewood was not the only Australian under an injury cloud, with David Warner failing to take to the field during England’s second innings.
Warner did not bat in Australia’s second innings either, with debutant Alex Carey opening alongside Marcus Harris in his place.
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While Warner sustained bruised ribs after copping a nasty blow from Ben Stokes on Day 2, Cummins backed the 35-year-old to be right for the second Test.
“He’s fine. [We] just didn’t want to risk him,” he said.
“I think he’ll be right for Adelaide.”