The Ashes: Ricky Ponting believes ‘fit’ Hazlewood could edge ‘impressive’ Boland as Australia face selection headaches

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting lauded Scott Boland but believes that if ace pacer Josh Hazlewood is 100% fit for the first Ashes Test, then he would walk straight back into the team. Notably, Hazlewood was withdrawn from Australia’s World Test Championship (WTC) final squad after the cricketer failed to recover on time. He was expected to play the summit clash against India, but unfortunately, his Achilles Tendon injury resurfaced, forcing him to get ruled out of the final tie.

On the other hand, Scott Boland is in terrific form in the WTC final. He dismissed Shubman Gill and KS Bharat in the first innings, but despite so, Ponting prefers Hazlewood over Boland as the prior has much-needed experience in his kitty.

“Nothing changes for me. If Hazlewood is fit and they are 100% convinced that he can get through the game, then I think he’ll start, but if he doesn’t you have a pretty good back-up,” Ponting was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

“Scotty (Scott Boland) is very impressive. The thing the selectors might be thinking about is Josh’s injury record over the last few years. When you look at it, with Scotty bowling the way he is, it’s a pretty compelling argument to say is he in their starting XI for the first Test. Looking ahead, though, with five Test matches in six weeks, don’t think we can expect either bowling group to get through [fully], both teams will probably have to rest a quick or two here and there through the series,” the former cricketer added.

Ponting backs Cummins to play all six Tests in England

Australia skipper Pat Cummins previously expressed his desire to play all six Test matches in England. Following the WTC final, Australia will take on England in a five-match Test series, and thus, it will be interesting to see if the bowlers can cope with their fitness. Talking about the same, Ponting mentioned that Cummins can very well play all the matches if Cameron Green supports him well in the middle.

“In series gone by, where there hasn’t been that world-class allrounder to throw the ball to for 15 overs an innings, then it would have been less likely,” he said. “But I think if Pat manages himself well enough, with Green there to help out, I think the captain can get through,” Ponting added.