Fast Bowler Finds Way To Overcome New Zealand’s Designs On Opening Day Of 2nd Test
Alex Malcolm
Josh Hazlewood received a standing ovation as he walked to fine leg after claiming the wicket of Kane Williamson. Some of that was from the small number of fans wearing yellow shirts on the grass bank at Hagley Oval. But there were plenty of locals showing Hazlewood their appreciation too.
It was unusual to see an Australian receive such recognition in New Zealand. But Christchurch is home to Sir Richard Hadlee. New Zealand’s greatest fast bowler was there on day one, sitting in the Hagley Oval stand named after his family. The indoor sports center out the back is specifically named after Sir Richard alone.
Christchurch cricket fans know what great fast bowling looks like. And what Hazlewood produced on day one was Hadlee-esque. He was metronomic, masterful and relentless. He operated with surgical precision to claim 5 for 31 from 13.5 overs as New Zealand were bowled out for 162.
Hazlewood was sometimes the forgotten man of Australia’s big three speedsters. He was the last to reach 250 Test wickets. He is not the captain nor is he breaking the box office in the IPL despite being the best T20 bowler of the three in recent years.
Also in recent years he has been forgotten because he was absent for long periods of time. Between February 2021 and June 2023, Hazlewood played only four of Australia’s 20 Tests due to a series of injuries. He had opened the door for Scott Boland to come through.
But since returning during the 2023 Ashes, Hazlewood has missed just one Test. The incredible stamina of Australia’s three fast bowlers over the summer has been highlighted this week as all three play seven Tests in a row. And in those seven Tests, it is Hazlewood who has been the star. He has bowled the most overs of the trio, the most maidens, and taken the most wickets, 34 at an amazing average of 13.70, with the best strike-rate and the best economy rate.
Hagley Oval was just a continuation of what he’s been doing all summer, asking Test batsmen to survive the toughest fast bowling tests.
In the second over of the day, he bowled Will Young three runs. He would later beat Tom Latham as well. But his opening spell of five overs went unrewarded despite some blistering deliveries as Latham and Young reached 47 without loss.
He made a small adjustment to his second spell. Back of a length was a winner at Basin Reserve in Wellington because of the extra bounce. But Hagley’s surface was much more even. Hazlewood pushed his length a fuller and got the better of the Black Caps’ four batters as a result with some world-class bowling.
Latham seemed impenetrable. Mitchell Starc has been one of his main tormentors in Test cricket and Latham played him with ease on his way to 38. Hazlewood changed the angle and went around the wicket. The first two balls were angled. One was processed on the side of the leg. The next one was wide enough to go away, but it spun back enough to make Latham question whether he should play. The next ball was fuller and angled out. Latham had to play. He broke off a fraction to scrape the edge.
Hazlewood’s sequence to Rachin Ravindra was even better. From the wicket he gave eight balls to Ravindra. Four turned in the top of the off and called for tight defensive strikes forward. Two were pushed sideways on purpose, but not on a half volley. Ravindra drove on line, not length, this summer, usually a dangerous game against Hazlewood. He played and missed on the first side but made contact on the second, telling off Usman Khawaja at first slip on the stroke of lunch.
Darryl Mitchell has the game to handle high-quality seam bowling, as evidenced by three Test hundreds in England against James Anderson and Stuart Broad. But Hazelwood worked him over. He kept his full length and Mitchell fought back, taking out his crease to drive beautifully down the ground. Hazlewood immediately dragged his length back. First he pinched one to hit Mitchell on the inner thigh guard. He took the next one away from the same spot to catch the outside edge and leave Mitchell in disbelief.
Eight balls later Hazlewood hit the big scalp of Williamson. Where Mitchell was hitting from his crease to disrupt Hazlewood’s lengths, Williamson was hanging on to sweat whatever was down. Hazlewood was full, seaming it to trap New Zealand’s best batter lbw.
New Zealand had slumped from 61 for 1 to 84 for 5. Starc then struck with two wickets in two balls to overtake Dennis Lillee on Australia’s all-time wicket-taking list, but it was Hazlewood who he deserved all the praise.
He richly deserved a fifth wicket and was finally rewarded in the last of the innings when Cameron Green was the only man in Christchurch to hear a tiny nick off Matt Henry’s bat and convince Pat Cummins to review after umpire Nitin Menon he had also lost.
Hazlewood’s Test bowling average has dipped below 25. Not quite in Hadlee’s league, but it was for an hour at Hagley Oval and Hadlee’s home side appreciated it.
Alex Malcolm is associate editor at ESPNcricinfo