- The Australians were defeated by India in the first Test
- Key bowler out of second Test due to injury
- The former test champion raised the question of a possible division in the locker room
Talk of discord in the Australian sheds continues to mount after the first Test disaster against India, but captain Pat Cummins disagrees.
Australia will enter their biggest home Test under Cummins’ captaincy with just four genuine bowling options.
Down 1-0 after a 295-run thrashing by India in Perth, Australia simply need to keep their perfect record in the day and night Tests at Adelaide Oval alive to prevent a difficult week turning into a bad summer.
Australia will look to level the five-match series without Josh Hazlewood, who will miss out due to a side strain.
But Hazelwood’s omission has raised suspicions among Australian cricket fans and commentators, with some suspecting he was sacked because of his comments after the loss in Perth, rather than because of an injury.
With Australia in a precarious position at 3-12 at the end of the third day, Hazlewood was asked how the team would approach the mountain of 534 runs set by India.
Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the second Test against India with a side strain.
Australian great Adam Gilchrist suggested Hazlewood had hinted at a lack of harmony in the team at a press conference in Perth.
“You’d probably have to ask one of the hitters that question,” Hazlewood responded.
That led to claims there was division in the Australian sheds, a claim even former batsman Adam Gilchrist suggests in a commentary.
‘To me, that tells me there’s potentially a divided locker room. I don’t know if there is. I may be reading too much into that,” Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket.
English champion and fellow commentator Michael Vaughan also found Hazelwood’s comment disconcerting.
‘Josh Hazlewood is a great bowler, a fantastic member of the team. Publicly, I’ve never heard an Australian come out and divide the camp into batsmen and bowlers,” he said.
But Cummins hit back, insisting there was no division in the Australian camp.
‘The team is great. Some of the commentators were 100 per cent wrong,” he said before Friday’s crucial second Test in Adelaide.
‘We have prepared as we always do and surrounded ourselves with each other. It’s a great feeling around the team. We don’t give it too much importance.
Australian captain Pat Cummins has dismissed claims that there is any division in the dressing room.
‘When things are not going well, there are enough commentators who will support you, but also some who will, of course, create some headlines.
‘We try not to pay too much attention to it. We just go about our business.
That hasn’t stopped Australian fans from fanning the fire, claiming Hazelwood was a “scapegoat” for the Perth hammering.
“When a team suffers a drubbing like the first Test, there has to be tension in the team, especially with the bowlers working all day in the heat and then the batsmen capitulating like they did,” one fan commented.
‘Is Hazlewood seriously injured?’ “I mean, I just saw him bowling alongside Pat Cummins in the nets,” asked another.
“When politics rears its head in sports, you can bet your bottom dollar that some deserving players will take the blame and become scapegoats,” added another.
But Australian batsman Travis Head has also taken steps to quash any suggestion of division in the dressing room.
“A lot of people are going to base the circumstances on a lot of things, I wouldn’t dive too deep into that,” he said.
‘We haven’t had a very good week. Alright. But we have four more opportunities to do it.