Hazlewood eyes intensity after successful Test return

Josh Hazlewood has no intention of taking an extended break from bowling following his successful return to action against Bangladesh and has his eyes firmly fixed on upcoming ODIs to fine tune preparations for the Test series in South Africa in October.

On Tuesday, Australia will announce their ODI squads for Zimbabwe and South Africa, and Hazlewood is expected to be named, having indicated he could potentially play “two out of three” in both series.

He claimed seven wickets in the first Test against Bangladesh in Darwin, his first Test in the format in more than a year, and bowled impressively again in Mackay, although only taking one wicket in the quickfire two-day contest.

“I think the best way forward for me still is to play as much as I can [within] reason,” Hazlewood told reporters at the launch of Play Cricket Week in Sydney. We have got two ODI series before that Test match series so it might be playing two out of three in both of those. “I think once you’re at that intensity, which we’re all at now, [it] is trying to maintain that as best we can “I’m very happy with where I’m at physically, [I’ve] done a lot of work, probably the 10 weeks leading into that series, it was probably our last big training block before what’s to come. "Very happy to come out the other side pretty much unscathed"

Australia's white ball squads will differ between the Zimbabwe and South Africa legs of the tour with Pat Cummins who remains the official ODI captain expected to only be a part of the latter. Selectors could also get creative around the concurrent red-ball component of the Australia A tour to India with a chance a few players could be prioritized for that ahead the ODIs with an eye on the five-match Border-Gavaskar series in January and February.

Australia will name their Test squad for the tour to South Africa early next week, with the biggest question being whether Marnus Labuschagne holds his spot after a poor series against Bangladesh. It might provide some clues if he keeps his place in the ODI squad.

Australia’s top order selectors will no doubt be keeping a close eye on fitness bulletins surrounding Kagiso Rabada after it was announced that the South African seamer has been ruled out of the ODI series due to a hamstring injury and is in a race to be fit for the Test series. “We don’t know exactly how bad the hamstring is,” Hazlewood said. ‘He seems to bounce back from any sort of niggle quite quickly. He's a phenomenal athlete. So I suppose we don’t dwell on it too much this far out. The more we get closer the more clearly we will see. But I am sure the batters would rather face someone else than KG.

Michael Neser is confident of being fit for selection in the Test squad, making good progress from the calf injury he suffered while training ahead of the Bangladesh series. "[I'm] actually ahead of schedule," Neser said after signing a new two-year BBL deal with Brisbane Heat. “I had another scan and the results were very good so I’m progressing quite nicely.South Africa is still on the cards and still what I’m aiming for. Obviously it's not picked yet, but if everything goes well with rehab and everything, I'll be fit and ready for that.

Neser is unlikely to be a first-choice starter in South Africa, but even if Australia go with an all-pace attack at any of the venues, he would provide valuable back up to the big three and Scott Boland. He took 15 wickets at 19.93 in the Ashes last season.