Josh Hazlewood declares he is in top form ahead of Australia vs South Africa World Test Championship final
Buoyed by an outstanding IPL, Australia quick Josh Hazlewood feels he is bowling better than at any point in his decorated career.
Struck down by niggling injuries in recent years, Hazlewood could be forgiven for starting to taper, having already taken 279 wickets from 72 Tests.
Follow every ball of the World Test Championship final with the ABC Sport live blog, and the live commentary between Australia and South Africa at Lord's.
But the fit-again 34-year-old is going to give selectors significant headaches when picking the team for the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's, starting on Wednesday.
It is an identical dilemma to two years ago when Scott Boland was chosen ahead of Hazlewood, who had been recovering from side issues, for the ultimately successful decider against India.
"I was quite close last time, I just had more of an interrupted IPL leading into that and wasn't quite up to scratch," Hazlewood said on Saturday at Australia's training base in Beckenham.
"But I feel in a much better place this time around, and I think in any format, my numbers over the last two years have been pretty good, so I've got a lot to fall back on.
"Skill wise, I still feel like I'm bowling the best I have in my career and it's just a matter of the body holding up, which it has been in the last few months."
Hazlewood managed just two Tests last summer, breaking down at the Gabba with a calf injury, as Australia won back the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time in a decade.
The right-armer also missed the two-Test trip to Sri Lanka, played on spin-friendly pitches, to make sure he was ready to perform later in the year.
Although he did suffer a slight shoulder injury, Hazlewood ultimately played a starring role in Royal Challengers Bangalore's breakthrough IPL title triumph last Tuesday.
Hazlewood, who also won an IPL title with Chennai in 2021, finished with 22 wickets for the tournament — the third most by any bowler.
Coming off a T20 workload, he has less than a week to get ready for his first Test since December.
"I ticked over some good overs just before the (IPL) final in Ahmedabad, in different weather than (England's), so it was quite a tough session," Hazlewood said.
"Then, every time you play a game in IPL, you're probably going to get almost seven or eight overs in when you factor in warm-ups."
AAP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
33 minutes ago
- News.com.au
South Sydney Rabbitohs throwback jersey becomes instant meme
The South Sydney Rabbitohs may have missed the mark with their jersey on Sunday. A day after the Brisbane Broncos rocked arguably the greatest jersey ever seen in NRL history, the Bunnies went old school against the Canberra Raiders. The club elected to rock a 90s heritage kit in the nation's capital, the last time they wore it was back in 1997. While paying homage to the past, the look did not win over those watching on with fans quickly turning the jersey into a meme. Social media quickly had a field day with the look with countless fans pointing out the design looked like something from a Castrol oil bottle. One fan on X wrote: 'Rabbits sponsored by Castrol?' A second added: 'The Bunnies look like 4 Litres of Castrol Engine Oil.' A third wrote: 'The castrol rabbitohs. Of course it wasn't just Castrol that fans believed the new jerseys looked like with many believing it was more akin to 7-Eleven. One wrote: 'Souths jumper looks like 7Eleven logo.' A second posted: 'Why does the Rabbitohs jersey look like they're sponsored by 7-Eleven.' Despite the jokes coming in, the Rabbitohs started the contest on fire as they scored the opening two tries to take an early 12-0 lead. The Raiders hit back right before the halftime break to bring the margin back to 12-6 before they ripped away the momentum of the contest. They emerged as a side many believe can go all the way in 2025 as they scored 30-unanswered points to take the victory and move to the top of the NRL ladder. Fan favourite Josh Papali'i ran out for his 319th appearance to go past Jason Croker as the club's most capped player. In fairytale fashion Papali'i sealed the win with two tries in the last ten minutes, the 66th and 67th four pointers of his storied career – a record for a front rower. He even converted the second. It was a Sunday afternoon where the temperature hovered around five degrees at kick-off and the windchill and rain pushed things below freezing, but almost everyone left GIO Stadium with a warm heart. The win however may have come at a cost for the Raiders – and NSW – after player of the match Hudson Young was put on report for a high shot on Jayden Sullivan in the first half. Young and Blues coach Laurie Daley will now face a nervous wait at the hands of the match review committee before Daley names his squad for Origin II in Perth on June 18. Young has already been fined twice in the last 12 months for careless high tackles. While it was Papali'i's day, Young and Corey Horsburgh were sensational for Canberra, while prodigious five eighth Ethan Strange contributed 18 points. The win lifts the Raiders to the top of the ladder on for and against, for a day at least, with the Bulldogs a chance to return to the number one slot when they face Parramatta on Monday afternoon.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Kyle Chalmers says Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games is possible after contemplating retirement
Six months after thinking he would never race again, Kyle Chalmers is taking the biggest gamble of his fabled swimming career. That risk is already being rewarded to the extent Chalmers has put the Brisbane 2032 Olympics on his agenda. Last December, the champion freestyler was retiring. "I had my Christmas break and honestly, I thought I wouldn't come back after Christmas," Chalmers said on Sunday. The 26-year-old had just found out his fiancée, Norwegian swimmer Ingeborg Loyning, was pregnant. "I didn't really know how that was going to go with swimming," he said. Chalmers and Loyning, based in Adelaide, had created a swim academy serving clients in person and online. "The only reason I got back in the pool was because we had some Japanese swimmers coming to train with us, and also Matt Wilson was coming from NSW to train with me for a few days," he said. "So, I felt I owed it to them to be at training because they had come to train with me. "And then I came back and just absolutely loved it. "I'm not associated with … a high-performance program. I'm there with people that are paying to be there, they love swimming." Chalmers shelved retirement and, with Adelaide-based sports physiologist Jamie Stanley, took a gamble. They changed the training program that propelled Chalmers to the pinnacle in a career reaping nine Olympic and 12 world championship medals. Chalmers has halved his training distance in the water in favour of cycling and running. "It's a bit of a gamble changing what I know works," he said. "I have done the same thing for the last 13 years, so to actually change so much is a bit of a risk. "It's not about training harder; it's about training smarter … it's very different to what anyone else is doing because it's based around two other sports that are very different to swimming." The first test of Chalmers's new regime came in April when he raced in Norway. The result stunned the man who has won gold, silver and bronze medals in the 100m freestyle at the past three Olympics. Chalmers clocked 47.27 seconds in his pet event in Norway — his fourth-fastest time ever and quickest outside of major meets. He followed with a personal best, 21.78, in the 50m freestyle. A week later in Sweden, he set a PB in the 50m butterfly, 22.89. "It was a massive shock for me," Chalmers said. "It's nice to be swimming personal best times at almost 27 years old." Chalmers, who turns 27 on June 25, will race at Australia's world championship selection trials in Adelaide starting Monday. He's bidding to make his fifth world championship team for the July 27-August 3 titles in Singapore. Chalmers also wants to become the first man to win 100m freestyle medals at four consecutive Olympics at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. "LA is a massive target of mine," he said. "But Brisbane (in 2032) might even be a possibility." AAP
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
'Raiders royalty'
NRL: Josh Papalii has walked onto the field for his 319th match for the Canberra Raiders, breaking the record for the most-capped Raiders player.
