Hazlewood ruled out of Scotland T20Is with a calf injury

Australia will not have the services of pacer Josh Hazlewood for the three-match T20 International series against Scotland, beginning  September 4 (Wednesday) at the Grange in Edinburgh. The reason behind his absence is a calf strain that the pacer sustained during training ahead of the tour. 

Riley Meredith was named as the replacement for Hazlewood by the selection committee of Cricket Australia on Saturday (August 24). Meredith, a speedster, last played a game for Australia in 2021. 

However, Hazlewood will be available for the remainder of the team’s United Kingdom tour. After the Scotland T20Is, the team will play three more T20Is and five One Day internationals against England. The England series begins with the first T20I at the Ageas Bowl on September 11. 

Meredith has been playing in England for Somerset and has been part of the County’s bowling attack in the T20 Blast and the One Day Cup. With Hazlewood getting injured, it is now the second Aussie pacer that had to be withdrawn from the tour after Spencer Johnson. 

Xavier Bartlett, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis and Meredith now form the Aussie pace attack for the Scotland tour alongside all-rounders Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie and Marcus Stoinis. Adam Zampa and Cooper Connolly are the two spin options.

Since Mitchell Starc had decided that he was only going to be part of the ODIs against England and Pat Cummins had pulled himself out of the tour altogether, Hazlewood was the most experienced bowler for the Scotland tour. 

Australia T20I squad vs Scotland

Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Riley Meredith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

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