Follow UsAfter a thumping win against India in the summit clash of the World Test Championship at The Oval last week, Australia will be riding high on confidence as they set foot for a riveting Ashes series starting June 16 at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Josh Hazlewood, who was very close to featuring in the final against India, has recovered from his injury and is hoping to play atleast three out of the five Tests in the marquee series.
"If we go back a few years, I would have said I expected to play all six Tests. But I guess it's a little bit different now, based on the last two years of history," he said, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.
"I think three would be a nice pass, and four is probably a tick. Any more than that is great. Any less than that, I am probably a little disappointed again."
"But I think when you have that depth for each game, you can really go as hard as you can and then reassess after the game because you always have someone of high quality sitting on the pine and ready to go. So it's a great position to be in for the team."
"I think if it was a one-off game, I probably could have played, but with what's coming up now, it just would have been too big of a risk. This sets me up nicely if I'm selected for game one, then we have a nice rest after, and we'll take it from there," he further added.
While the 32-year-old might have to wait for his opportunity in the playing XI as Australia might stick with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland as their three frontline seamers, along with Cameron Green's all-around abilities and Nathan Lyon as the sole spinner.
"Think having those fast bowling options helps that mindset. No doubt you still want to play every game, and it's hard to sit on the sidelines and watch. No shying away from that."
"But potentially, if you have back-to-back Tests and you bowl 50 overs, and you've someone like Boland, Starc or myself on the bench, fresh and ready to go for the next Test, it makes those conversations a little bit easier. The guys are a little bit more open to it to create that longevity. Perhaps the all-format guys are more open to it than others," he added.
The right-arm pacer is also wary of England's rejigged style of play and believes the Aussie bowling unit will need to stick to their line and length to reap dividends.
"While we are bowling at their batsmen, it's about sticking to that six to eight-metre length. Think what we've seen through the numbers in the last 18 months to two years. They are still getting out in similar ways but just scoring more runs quickly in between. So it's about sticking to that line and length. If they hit us off that for five Tests, then that's good for them," he concluded.