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Australia apcer Josh Hazlewood feels that the England batters will pose a massive challenge for both him and the team in the upcoming Ashes series. Notably, England will be touring Australia for what is expected to be an incredibly exciting five-match Test assignment and will commence from November 21.
Hazlewood commended England's strength in their top-order and named Joe Root and Harry Brook as the two batters who can cause major problems for Australia's bowling attack. Interestingly, Root and Brook are currently the No.1 and No.2 ranked Test batters in the world according to the ICC Rankings.
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"England has obviously played on quite flat wickets in recent years, and it's been a really dry summer as well, so they are probably starting to get tired and spin now. I think [Brook] will adapt. He's a good player. He's at the top of the rankings for a reason, and he'll be a tough challenge," Hazlewood was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
"I think a fresh face like Harry Brook might find it easier. There's no baggage behind him and he can just come out and play with freedom as he does. Joe's [Root] probably in the form of his life as well. So they're an unbelievable batting line, to be honest. The top seven have done really well... so it's a challenge," he added.
Hazlewood featured in the white-ball series against South Africa
Though the Test series against England is expected to be heavily exhausting for the Australian bowlers, Hazlewood has opted to feature constantly in matches for the Baggy Greens unlike Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. Hazlewood recently featured in two T20Is and three ODIs against South Africa. He racked up a total of seven scalps in the five matches he played against the Proteas and is likely to feature in Australia's upcoming white-ball assignments against New Zealand and India as well.
"It felt like over the last 12 months, the best way for me to go about it is just keep on ticking over, keep playing, not having too long off bowling. I find getting back to that intensity and volume is quite tough for me. So if I can just keep staying up there, match intensity as long as I can, then that's sort of the best way for me to go about it," Hazlewood stated.
Meanwhile, England will also be playing multiple white-ball series ahead of the Ashes. They have ODI and T20I fixtures lined up against both South Africa and New Zealand ahead of the highly-important Test series against Australia. Additionally, the Three Lions will also be playing a three-match T20I series against Ireland in September.
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