Birthday special: Josh Hazlewood – Australia’s Mr Consistent
One of the finest pacers going around, Josh Hazlewood turns 31 on Saturday (January 8). The right-arm pacer has been instrumental in Australia’s success in recent years and his numbers are nothing short of exceptional. Be it taking wickets in the purest format or restricting the run-flow in white-ball cricket, Hazlewood embraced every challenge which came his way.
Notably, Hazlewood belongs to the rare breed of Australian fast bowlers who aren’t known to set the speed gun on fire. The pacer instead relies on his accuracy and ability to move the ball off the deck. The same prompted the cricket world to draw comparisons between him and legendary Aussie pacer Glenn McGrath. Well, the similarities aren’t hard to point out – a sharp mind and a smooth run.
It must be noted that Hazlewood was only seen as a Test bowler a few years back. However, he gradually earned the reputation of being a multi-format specialist. In fact, he is the only bowler feature in the top 10 of ICC bowling rankings of all three formats currently. This speaks volumes of his prowess. He was also instrumental in taking Australia to the T20 World Cup triumph last year.
In fact, it won’t be wrong to say that Hazlewood is one of the most underrated bowlers going around. While he boasts off an average of 25.64 in Tests, his economy rate in T20Is is 7.8. Hence, the veteran pacer is one of the best when it comes to versatility and adapting the formats. Meanwhile, Hazlewood has so far scalped 340 wickets in international cricket and the tally is set to go a long way.
Josh Hazlewood in international cricket:
| Format | Matches | Wickets | Best Bowling (Innings) | Economy | Average | Strike Rate | 5W |
| Test | 56 | 215 | 6/67 | 2.74 | 25.64 | 56.04 | 9 |
| ODI | 56 | 93 | 6/52 | 4.71 | 25.09 | 31.92 | 3 |
| T20I | 24 | 32 | 4/30 | 7.8 | 22.09 | 17.0 | 0 |
Meanwhile, Hazlewood is currently plying his trade in the ongoing Ashes 2021-22. Unfortunately, he won’t take the field on his birthday due to a side strain. The talismanic fast bowler sustained the injury in the opening Test and was forced to sit out in the next three. He’s unlikely to regain fitness for the fifth and final clash as well, which gets underway in Hobart next week. However, Australian head coach Justin Langer is hopeful of Hazlewood’s availability for New Zealand ODIs later this month.
