Ryan Harris calls for Hazlewood to be saved for Lord’s

Birmingham: Ryan Harris believes Australia should resist the temptation to recall Josh Hazlewood for the opening Ashes Test, despite being angry at having experienced the same thing in 2013.

Harris knows full well how Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland will be feeling as one of the trio faces a cruel cut from selection for the Edgbaston showdown.

A decade ago, Harris was returning from the latest in a lengthy run of injuries and had strung some games together for Australia A, but found himself left out for a young Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson.

Angry at the call, Harris honed his craft in the nets during a Test Alastair Cook’s side won narrowly. Recalled for Lord’s, he proceeded to put together the sequence of his life, contributing to the remaining four Tests in England, playing all five in a 5-0 sweep at home, then making another indelible mark on the subsequent series in South Africa.

Looking at how well Boland is performing, Starc’s ability to offer something different to the attack and Hazlewood’s lack of cricket, Harris argues that another week or so of building up the “Bendemeer Bullet” is the wisest option, and that the bowler’s acceptance of the call would be an important measure of team unity.

“I can’t see him playing, I think the way Boland’s bowled has been exceptional, so I can’t see Hazlewood jumping him at this stage, and I think they’ll be happy with and stick with Starc as well,” Harris said.

“I remember it clearly. I wasn’t happy about it, but I think everyone was bowling particularly well at the time. So disappointing as it was, on those tours you’ve got to accept what the team want at the time and I think coming into this Test it is a little bit similar.”

As much as fitness itself, Harris pointed out that against a “Bazball” inspired England, Australia’s bowlers need to be at their most hostile and precise, rather than working into rhythm – a fiendish issue for Hazlewood given the lack of tour games on the schedule.

“Josh, where he’s at, is about where I was,” Harris said. “I’d played a little bit more – I played a couple of Australia A games and had a few more overs under my belt.

“Him going in ... Josh is pretty good and consistent in what he does, but not having any match practice, if England come out and play the way they are and get away, has he got the skills honed enough to be able to cope with it.

“I had that little bit of extra peace of mind where I played before the series. So I felt I was ready. I bowled some pretty good overs during the Test, they just weren’t in the middle. That helped as well, but at the time you’ve just got to be honest with yourself.”

Harris said there needed to be a balance between empathy for Hazlewood and acknowledgement that Boland is currently operating at an exceptionally high level, not just bowling accurately at good pace but manipulating the seam with rare mastery.

“He’s clearly dying to play and he does know his body very well, it’s just that uncertainty about whether he’s fully ready or does he need another week,” he said. “He hasn’t played a red-ball game since the SCG Test, so that’s got to be a factor as well, and when you’ve got a guy like Scotty Boland bowling the way he is, it’s a pretty easy decision in my mind.

“The way he was just tweaking and moving the seam around a bit, the purchase he’s getting off the wicket, it helps putting it in the right spot. He’s just dangerous, moving it around just enough. He’s very skillful and he’s learnt pretty quickly with that.”

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