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Australian batting legend Mark Waugh has given his verdict on who should Australia pick between Scott Boland and Josh Hazlewood for the Ashes 2023 series opener against England which is slated to be played at Edgbaston from June 16.
Hazlewood has been battling with the Achilles and side issue thus was sitting on the sidelines of cricket for a while now and was also ruled out of the just-concluded World Test Championship (WTC) final against India due to recurring injury. On the other hand, in Hazlewood's absence, Scott Boland rose to the occasion and played an instrumental role in Australian triumph over India in WTC final in which he snared five wickets in two innings.
Boland over Hazlewood in Ashes
Meanwhile, Australia's batting legend Mark Waugh has said that Boland should be included in Australia's playing XI for the Ashes series opener against England instead of Hazlewood. Waugh also said that many would have called this decision a foolish one a year ago given Hazlewood's dominance over the time as Australia's pace spearhead.
"If you said this 12 months ago that Josh Hazlewood would be left out of the team, someone would think you're mad," Waugh said.
"But I think it will happen that way. I think Boland has to play, Cummins has obviously got to play and Starc has got to play because he offers you pace through the air and variety. You don't want four tall, right-arm seam bowlers because you've got Cameron Green as well. So unfortunately I think Josh Hazlewood is going to miss out in the first Test," Waugh added.
Australia will look replicate their last year's dominance in the upcoming Ashes when they routed England 4-0.
Head-to-Head
There have been 72 Ashes series: Australia have won 34, England have won 32, and six series have been drawn.
Ashes 2023 schedule
1st Test, Friday June 16-Tuesday June 20: , Edgbaston
2nd Test, Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s
3rd Test, Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley
4th Test, Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Emirates Old Trafford
5th Test, Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Kia Oval
Australia squad for first two Tests: Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.
England squad for first two Ashes Tests: Ben Stokes (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
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