Josh Hazlewood ruled out of ODI series against England

The Australia team is scheduled to play five ODIs and a one-off T20I versus England, starting June 13 at the Kennington Oval in London. Australian cricket was dented by a body blow of the ball-tampering scandal and as a result, they were at the receiving end of a fair amount of flak from every nook and corner of the cricketing fraternity. They will be looking to park the disappointments aside and take charge with a new zeal.

The Australian selectors had announced a 15-man squad for their upcoming tour, however, the team, captained by Tim Paine, has been dealt with another jolt as Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the ODIs owing to a back injury. Michael Neser, the South African-born all-rounder, has been drafted in place of the 27-year old fast bowler.

Neser- A handy all-round cricketer

“Josh has been managing some low level bone stress in his lumbar spine for a short period. He had a repeat scan today and although it has not progressed to a fracture he is starting to experience some lower back pain. As such, we are taking a conservative approach and he will not travel to England for the one-day series,” David Beakley, the physiotherapist of Cricket Australia (CA) updated about the injury on cricket.com.au.

Hazlewood was the most experienced bowler in Australia’s lineup and his omission is expected to weaken their bowling to some extent. Neser was in excellent touch during the 2017-18 Sheffield Shield having picked up 39 wickets in 10 matches for Queensland. He also was the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with best match figures of 10/143 against Western Australia.

Moreover, he showed impressive form in the JLT Cup One Day tournament being Queensland’s highest wicket-taker with eight wickets from six matches. The 28-year old cricketer also compiled a knock of 122 runs in the championship versus Western Australia.

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