AUS vs BAN 2026: I’d love to play more Tests with Scott Boland, says Josh Hazlewood

Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood is hopeful of playing more Test matches alongside Scott Boland as he prepares for a return to the red-ball setup in next month’s Test series against Bangladesh in Darwin. The 35-year-old has not featured in a Test since July 2025 after being sidelined by recurring hamstring and calf injuries, which also forced him to miss the entire Ashes series.

Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Boland last played together in the day-night Test against the West Indies in Jamaica, where Australia opted to field an all-pace attack without a specialist spinner. Before that, Hazlewood and Boland had shared the field in a Test only once, at Edgbaston in 2023.

With Nathan Lyon set to return from injury for the Bangladesh series, Australia are expected to restore their frontline spinner, which could leave either Hazlewood or Boland competing for a place in the playing XI for the opening Test. However, Hazlewood remains optimistic about featuring alongside Boland more regularly over the next 12 months, with Australia scheduled to play nearly 20 Test matches during that period.

“I’d love to play more with Scotty. We’re obviously a little bit similar, but I think there’s still a lot of differences in our bowling. Every time he’s come in, he’s done unbelievably well. His career just keeps getting better and better the older he gets,” said Hazlewood as quoted by Cricinfo.

“I think there’s enough opportunities in the next 12 months, 18 months for us to play a lot of cricket hopefully together, that’d be a nice one to tick off. But I think as four quicks, we’ve got Ness [Michael Neser] and Doggy [Brendan Doggett] there as well. So I think we’ll have to lean on all six at some point in the next sort of 18 months,” he added.

Hazlewood has endured an injury-plagued period over the past year, featuring in just six of Australia’s last 14 Test matches due to recurring hamstring and calf issues. Despite the setbacks, the experienced quick is only five wickets away from the milestone of 300 Test wickets, having claimed 295 scalps at an impressive average of 24.21.

Australia’s chair of selectors, George Bailey, revealed that the team’s medical staff have carefully managed Hazlewood’s workload by resting him during the white-ball tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

“I think this is probably the first time we’ve actually had a lead in to a Test without any cricket in terms of games. It’s been big days, Tuesdays, Thursdays mostly, with some other stuff filtered in around that, and then last week we had a few back-to-back days, Tuesday, Wednesday, and again next week I think back-to-back,” said Hazlewood.

“Leading into other Test series and Test matches, you’re playing T20, you’re playing one-dayers, you’re travelling, so it’s tough to fit those bowling sessions in. This has been sort of tailor-made for a Test match, which is I think should work out well. It’s just trying to replicate a day in the field of Test cricket. Really, it’s bowling multiple spells in a day. It’s bowling back-to-back days,” he added.

Given his recent injury struggles, Hazlewood is reluctant to look too far ahead and is instead focused solely on being fit for the opening Test against Bangladesh. However, the experienced fast bowler acknowledged that the Australian dressing room is well aware of the significant opportunity that lies ahead over the next 12 months. With away Test series against South Africa, India, and England on the horizon, Australia have a rare chance to secure landmark overseas victories in three of the toughest cricketing destinations within the span of a year.

“I think every time you look ahead in sport it can bite you pretty quickly. I’ve always done that. I’ve looked at it like that literally day in day out for the last few weeks here, ticking boxes, getting workloads in. Next week’s another tick, and then I guess once you get through all that, then you look at Darwin. So everything else is a long way away. Just take it as it comes,” said Hazlewood.

“This group’s been together for quite a long time now, the majority of it, anyway. The big series are obviously England and India. I haven’t won in South Africa either, so there’s three that are coming up that are a few boxes to tick off there for not just me but from this whole playing group. I guess that’s been a driving factor during this prep, sort of in the back of your head, and even the months leading into it. Some real big Test series, and they’re all away, obviously those big ones. Tough competition, and hopefully we get the job done,” he concluded.

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