‘Don’t think it’s yet’: Hazlewood answers big Ashes question; Aussie’s Cummins boost — Daily

Star seamer Josh Hazlewood has provided Australians with reassuring news on his own fitness less than two weeks out from the first Ashes Test in Perth.

The revelation comes alongside news that 14 out of 15 players in Australia’s Test squad will front up in the Sheffield Shield come Monday in one last hit out before the five-match series.

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‘BEST SHAPE FOR A LONG TIME’: HAZLEWOOD’S CALMING ADMISSION AHEAD OF ASHES

Amid continued criticism from the UK media regarding the age demographic of Australia’s Ashes squad leading into the first Test, star veteran Josh Hazlewood has given the home country a refreshing update on his fitness.

Less than two weeks out from the opening Test in Perth on November 21, the Sheffield Shield will be flooded with top-quality players in Round 3 beginning on Monday, with Usman Khawaja the only player in Australia’s 15-man squad who won’t take suit up for their state.

Hazlewood has battled a variety of niggles throughout his 76-Test career, however the 34-year-old revealed that his body is feeling great heading into the four-day fixture for New South Wales against Victoria.

“The chance to get the high majority of the (Test) boys in this round only strengthens the competition … for ourselves as well, to get a good hit out in red-ball cricket,” Hazlewood told reporters in Sydney on Saturday morning.

“I feel in the best shape I’ve been in for a long time. The experience through not just red-ball cricket, but through all the formats — you put all the pieces together.

“We bounce off each other out there. We know each other’s games so well, so we can help each other out straight away, and there’s not that 20 or 30-minute delay for someone else to intervene.

“There’ll come a time no doubt, but I don’t think it’s yet.”

The right-arm seamer will suit up for the Blues alongside Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, and will be up against Scott Boland in the same match — collectively the quartet who will play England in Perth.

The NSW trio have taken a mid-boggling 1,259 Test wickets between them, while Boland himself nurses an outrageous Test bowling average of 16.53 from 14 matches and 62 wickets.

Both The Telegraph and Daily Mail earlier this week suggested that England quick Jofra Archer will be “licking his lips” over Australia’s squad reveal, with both referring to the country as ‘Dad’s Army’ given its older profile.

In promising signs, Cummins again bowled to his state teammates at training on Saturday, as he eyes off a return to the senior side for the second Test in Brisbane next month.

The Australian skipper is currently recovering from lumbar bone stress in his back, and has subsequently been ruled out of the first Test in Perth.

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