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Australian players made history when they took a knee against the West Indies on Saturday morning (AEST), while Josh Hazlewood stood tall with the ball to remind selectors why he should be on the plane for this year’s T20 World Cup.
But the big quick’s form was a rare highlight as the Aussies crumbled with the bat to lose by 18 runs on a night that saw the men’s team take a knee for the first time to support the Black Lives Matter movement.
The forgotten man of white ball cricket was at his frugal best on a deck that didn’t offer the quicks much, finishing with an unplayable 3-12 from his four overs that was only spoiled by a six off his final delivery.
Hazlewood had the astonishing figures of 2-3 from three overs in the power play, which included the big scalps of Chris Gayle and Lendl Simmons, who both tried to heave him to the onside off deliveries that weren’t quite short enough.
The 30-year-old quick, playing in just his tenth T20 international, was the pick of the bowlers along with Mitch Marsh (2-26) in a perfect audition for the World Cup.
“It’s hard to judge sometimes,” Hazelwood said of his form, admitting he took a leaf out of the opposition’s book in his new approach to death bowling.
“If you get on a roll early you can get a few overs out when they’re on the defensive. It’s a good challenge and I guess that’s what I’m in the team for to start well and bash that wicket because there was a bit of inconsistent bounce there so I tried to make use of that.”
Pat Cummins is an obvious starter when he comes back, while Jhye Richardson is also high in the pecking order, and that leaves one other spot should the Aussies opt for three quicks in the UAE and Oman.
Mitchell Starc has long been considered the best limited-overs bowler in the country, but he has struggled for form this year and was smacked around late to finish with figures of 0-40 on Saturday.
