Pat Cummins confident of Josh Hazlewood’s participation in first Ashes Test vs England

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Australia skipper Pat Cummins, a paceman who has already been ruled out of the first test while he recovers from a back injury, sounded optimistic about long-time pace partner Josh Hazlewood’s fitness when he fronted the media in Sydney.

“They both got scans,” he said of Hazlewood and Abbott, according to the Nine Network. “I haven’t 100% got across all the details, but I think Joshy was pretty chipper.

“Obviously, we’re a week away from the test series, and you always kind of err on the side of caution, and they wanted to find out what was happening before pushing it.”

Cricket Australia later confirmed 34-year-old Hazlewood had reported tightness in his right hamstring but was cleared of injury following the precautionary scans, and will practice as planned leading into the first test.

The Nov. 21-25 Perth match will be followed by a day-night test at the Gabba in Brisbane starting Dec. 4, then the series moves to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

Australia squad for 1st Ashes Test

Steve Smith (captain), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster