'Overwhelming verdict': Fans call for Aussie bowler with 295 Test wickets to be axed

Yahoo

3 days ago

Josh Hazlewood would be the unlucky player to miss out on Ashes selection as Australia again face the pleasant dilemma over who to leave out of its five-star bowling line-up next summer. That's the overwhelming verdict of the Yahoo Sport Australia audience after Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc destroyed the West Indies in a record-breaking performance in the third Test in Jamaica.
Asked in a poll who should miss out if all five Australian bowlers – Starc, Boland, Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins – are available, a whopping 48 per cent of the 32,000 respondents chose Hazlewood. Boland was a somewhat controversial selection over veteran spinner Lyon in Kingston but vindicated the faith shown in him by claiming a second innings hat-trick to go with match figures of 6-36.
Starc raced past 400 scalps in his 100th Test, collecting a five-wicket haul with the fewest balls (15) in history as the home side was routed for a paltry 27. While Australia's batting continues to cause nightmares, selectors have been left with the nice problem of working out how to fit five of the world's best bowlers into four spots for the five-Test series against England, starting in November.
Skipper Cummins and left-armer Starc appear locks for all five matches, pending fitness, while Boland, Hazlewood and Lyon may share the load depending on conditions. It's already been floated Lyon will sit out the day-night Test in Brisbane given Australia's seamers have dominated previous pink-ball games.
But the reality is Australia's finest-ever off-spinner should play in at least four Tests, leaving Boland and Hazlewood in a shootout for the final bowling berth. Boland was surprised to get the call-up in Jamaica at Lyon's expense and is not banking on selectors taking the same gamble in Australia.
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Whichever line-up the Aussies go with, former England captain Michael Vaughan believes the Poms' lower order won't be blasted away as in recent Ashes series. After witnessing England's memorable 22-run win over India at Lord's, Vaughan said: "They've got bowlers who can bat. Gus Atkinson has got a Test match century, (Brydon) Carse got a good half-century here, Jofra Archer can hold a bat and (then there's) Mark Wood.
"So often in Australia we've seen England have good days where they're 220 for two or three and suddenly 280 all out because Starc blows away the tail. England should be able to get a few tail-end runs in Australia with the batting line-up that they have."