Cricket legend Mark Taylor says Jhye Richardson’s sheer pace should get him the nod to replace Josh Hazlewood in Australia’s Test team.
Hazlewood suffered a side strain during the nine-wicket victory over England in the opening Ashes match at the Gabba last week.
He’s been ruled out of the second Test, which kicks off at Adelaide Oval on Thursday and will be played with a pink Kookaburra.
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Now selectors are frantically deciding who will replace the right-arm paceman.
It appears to be a race in two between Richardson and Queensland swingman Michael Neser.
Richardson, 25, played two Tests against Sri Lanka at the start of 2019 but hasn’t earned another start since. Neser, 31, is yet to earn a baggy green but has been in the Test squad and named 12th man on multiple occasions.
“Australia will be looking for almost a like-for-like replacement. Josh Hazlewood gives Pat Cummins the captain a lot of control,” Taylor told Wide World of Sports’ Outside The Rope.
“He bowls a great line and length. Very rarely do you see Josh Hazlewood go for anything more than about three runs per over, and sometimes he’s less than two.
“Jhye Richardson’s economy in Shield cricket is actually better than Neser’s (2.66 runs per over compared to 2.84).
“The fact that Richardson was also 12th man at the Gabba suggests that he’s the next man in, and those couple of Test matches he played a couple of years ago he did a very good job.
“I’m sure he will be champing at the bit ready to go.”
Richardson has played 21 first-class games for a bowling average of 21.11, while Neser has played 70 games for an average of 24.47. Neser did, though, take seven wickets against England Lions in a tour game over the weekend.
But, if nothing else, Taylor says Richardson’s ability to send the ball down the pitch slightly faster than Neser should get him the nod.
Richardson regularly bowls faster than 140km/h, while England’s Mark Wood was the sole opposition quick to regularly crack that marker in the first Test.
“It seems to me Australia are looking for that little bit more pace, and that’s probably not a bad thing,” Taylor said.
“If you look at England they’re used to guys who bowl around 125-130km/h, but they seem to struggle a little bit more with the guys who have got a bit more in them.
“A bit of extra pace, he’s got the ability to swing it away, and if he can make England play he could be a handful with the pink ball.”
As for Hazlewood, Taylor is concerned he may not be seen again in this Ashes series.
“It will be interesting to see if he does get back, Josh Hazlewood,” Taylor said.
“Bear in mind that about a month from today will be the start of the last Test. So it’s not a lot of time to recover, there’s no longer a couple of Shield games in between Test matches.
“Josh Hazelwood hasn’t got a lot of time and as a bowler a side strain is about as bad as you can get. Obviously he’s going to miss Adelaide and then we’ve only got five or six days until the Boxing Day Test… so does he make that?
“And then you’ve only got another six days to Sydney, so which one are they going to try to get Josh Hazlewood for?
“Last week I had him down for most wickets in the series, so straight away I’m in trouble.”
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