National selector Mark Waugh has confirmed Josh Hazlewood is a serious contender to make a Test debut this summer.
The tall NSW fast bowler was a notable omission from a 13-man Australian squad announced on Monday for three Twenty20 internationals against South Africa next month, a side that won't include players on Test duty against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
However, Waugh spoke to Hazlewood before the Blues' Matador Cup match against Tasmania at Blacktown International Sportspark on Monday, and explained that the 23-year-old was very much in selectors' thinking for the main events of the summer along with the other form bowler of the domestic one-day competition, Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Australia will seek to replicate the destruction their band of quicks, led by Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris, inflicted on England in last summer's Ashes demolition when they host India over four Tests.
And while Hazlewood is on the fringes of Test calculations - Johnson and Peter Siddle are likely to front the Australian attack in Dubai from Wednesday, and the recovering Harris is on track for a return in Brisbane in December - he could leapfrog other candidates with a strong start to the Sheffield Shield and force his way into a debut if the Ashes-winning trio cannot back up for every Test as they did against England.
"There's a good band of fast bowlers. Even in picking this T20 squad we left out Hazlewood and Coulter-Nile, who really should be in the squad," Waugh said. "But with the management of bowlers over the next 18 months coming up we thought it was better that they played Shield cricket early in the season, which gives them a chance to play one-dayers and Test matches for Australia. Both of them could easily do that sooner rather than later."
While Hazlewood is making his case, one-time Test hero Pat Cummins is due to play his first match for Australia in two years - and first for his country in Australia - in the three T20s against South Africa.
"Pat is obviously a key player into the future," Waugh said. "He's a young guy and he's had injury problems but when he's played for Australia he's been excellent. He'll be frustrated with the injuries he's had but he's only young but hopefully with all the procedures in place by the medical stuff it will ensure he doesn't get injured too often in his career. It's the nature of being a fast bowler - you do get injuries - but hopefully they limit that to an amount that he's playing a lot more than he's not playing."
The Australian T20 squad also includes Shane Watson, whose lead-up to the India series is as a result likely to be limited to a single Shield appearance, with a one-day series against the Proteas to follow next month. Waugh defended the ploy, however, saying the short-form matches in Adelaide, Melbourne and at ANZ Stadium were a good chance for the all-rounder to ease his way back into bowling after a long injury layoff.
"We still needed to pick some quality players that have played for Australia before and Shane, we know what he can do," Waugh said. "He's a world-class player when his fitness is right and he is bowling. Hopefully he gets a bit out of the three games with the four overs in each game."
