Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood emphasized the importance of Test cricket for himself and the bowling quartet, including Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Nathan Lyon. Drawing inspiration from England’s James Anderson, Hazlewood expressed the desire for each member of the quartet to achieve the milestone of 300 Test wickets. Hazlewood, who is on the verge of reaching 250 Test wickets, sees Test cricket as the pinnacle and aims for sustained success in the longest format.
Josh Hazlewood expressed his desire for the Australian bowling quartet to continue playing Test cricket for at least another two years or even longer. Josh Hazlewood said,
We’ve seen Jimmy Anderson do that sort of stuff. Starcy bowls a little bit differently to Patty and me. He’s all guns blazing most of the time, but if we could all get 300 [wickets], that’d be unreal. It’d be great if we could play forever, but if we could play a couple more years … what we know about training and workload management now we might be able to hand on longer. I just really enjoy the format and I know the other boys do as well. You try to hang onto Test cricket as long as possible”
“It feels like I got 200 wickets a while ago”- Josh Hazlewood
Hazlewood acknowledged that injuries have impacted his Test appearances in the past two summers. He humorously mentioned that Pat Cummins has overtaken him in the wickets column during this period.
The last 50 [wickets] have probably taken a while. It feels like I got 200 a while ago and then obviously there’s been a few injuries in the last few years. It will be pretty special, the last one of the four guys to do it. ‘Cummo’ has been coming up in the rearview mirror pretty quickly the last few years and has gone straight past me with three five-fors [five-wicket hauls] on the bounce”
Mitchell Starc is second in the wickets tally among the Australian bowling quartet with 345 wickets, while Nathan Lyon leads the pack with an impressive 509 wickets. Pat Cummins, with 258 wickets, recently overtook Josh Hazlewood’s count of 249.
If Hazlewood takes one more wicket, it will make them the first quartet to all reach at least 250 wickets while still playing together. The upcoming two-match Test series against the West Indies, starting on January 17 in Adelaide, provides an opportunity for this achievement.
“I feel like 50-over cricket probably jumps out of first”- Josh Hazlewood
Josh Hazlewood acknowledged that the 50-over format would likely be the first format he and other Australian pacers would retire from. Although Nathan Lyon has not been a regular in the ODI side, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Hazlewood were rested for the upcoming West Indies ODIs after recently helping Australia win their sixth ODI World Cup title by defeating India in the final.
Hazlewood stated,
I feel like probably the middle format [50-over cricket], I would probably jump out of first, and I think the boys are pretty similar. I feel like one-day cricket works really well when it’s in a tournament, like a Champions Trophy or a World Cup. It really works well, as we saw in India [in the recent World Cup that Australia won]. But I just think that if it’s a bilateral series it can sometimes feel like, not meaningless, but OK, we’re going do another series here, another there”
The New South Wales pacer further added,
But Twenty20 is always good fun, it’s really enjoyable to play. Obviously there’s the franchise stuff down the track when you finish everything else potentially, but if when I finish up playing Test cricket for Australia, I think that will be it for every format.”
Josh Hazlewood also played a crucial role in Australia’s 2015 World Cup triumph at home and their 2021 T20 World Cup victory. In the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand, he was the star bowler with figures of 3/16 in four overs.