At the post-match presentation, Head said, “It’s been a big couple of weeks. But I’ll be fine.”
Hazlewood’s latest injury came in his comeback match from the side strain that kept him out of the second Test in Adelaide and means, after a setback-free run from mid-2023 where he played ten consecutive Tests, he will miss more matches than he plays this season.
“It’s really tough,” Cummins said. “It’s been the story, outside of last summer, of the last few summers. The extra layer to that [is] he’s probably one of the most disciplined, professional sportspeople you could meet [with] the way he trains and prepares. When he’s at home he’s in the gym every second day or every day, doing whatever it takes to try and minimise injuries. Think that’s an extra kind of blow, knowing how much he’s put into his body in the last few years to try and play as many Tests as he can.
“It’s one of those [injuries] you can’t really predict, but we value him. Unfortunately, he’ll miss this series. I don’t know exactly when he’ll be right to go again but even in the little snippets we’ve seen this series it shows how much we rate him and how much of an impact he can have.”
However, Head, Australia’s most in-form batter, would have been an even bigger hole to fill so his positive prognosis is vital for the home side. He has made back-to-back destructive centuries in Adelaide and Brisbane, the first setting up victory and the second putting Australia in a dominant position.
Cummins confirmed that there had been consideration to opening with Head on the final day after Australia had secured a lead of 185, following a defiant last-wicket stand between Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep which removed the option of the follow on.
“[We were] always trying to set up the game,” Cummins said. “[A] day-five wicket, it always felt like there were plenty of wickets on offer so just trying to get a bit of a total then try and then have enough overs to take those ten wickets. The number in your head always keeps changing as the weather does.”
“We are feeling really good,” Cummins said of himself and Starc. “It was hot yesterday but we’d had about seven days off bowling after Adelaide so we were fresh, ready to go, and if anything the rain breaks helped us get little breaks yesterday.”
Marsh, who effectively became Australia’s third seamer, only sent down two overs (having bowled just four in Adelaide) but Cummins said he would have been used more extensively if a fuller run chase had played out. Before the match, Marsh had reiterated he was able to bowl as much as the captain needed him following doubts over his fitness after Perth where he had pulled up sore following 17 overs in the opening Test.
“We went in thinking we’d need a lot more from Mitchy Marsh but felt like we got enough breaks so he wasn’t needed as much,” Cummins said. “Also [had] a bit of an eye to the second innings so when we had a fresh new ball, it would have landed on Mitchy a lot to try and take those ten wickets. I suspect we’ll call on Mitch and some stage in the next couple of Tests to get us a breakthrough or two.”
Australia’s selectors will meet over the next 24 hours and the squad is due to come back together in Melbourne on Monday ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
