Hazlewood expects tough competition for Champions Trophy spots
london — Australian paceman Josh Hazlewood feels competition for spots to Australia’s Champions Trophy squad will be fierce ahead of their opening match against New Zealand on June 2.
Australia are billed as one of the favourites for the 50-over tournament in the UK and most of the players had their first serious hit-out of the tour on Monday in London. Australia has a rich squad to choose from and the spotlight will be on the pacemen who will be battling for spots during the team’s warm-up matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
However, Australia’s Champions Trophy campaign has been hit by a pay dispute between Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) which has been stonewalling for months and there appears no signs of a resolution before the June 30 deadline. Hazlewood said he was not distracted by the developments.
“It’s all about cricket for me. It’s all about the Champions Trophy, we’ll worry about that (pay dispute) when the time comes. ACA is our representative and we trust and believe that they will do what it is best for the game,” he said. Hazlewood and several other star teammates were reportedly offered by CA a three-year deal rather than a standard one-year contract on the condition that he misses out on the IPL.
Coming to the Champions Trophy, Hazlewood, one of Australia’s star quicks, said there were many players ready to make their mark.
“Obviously over the last 6-12 months there’s been a few people rested from different tours and we’ve had injuries as well,” he told reporters in London on Monday.
“That’s just the way the schedule is. Every player of the 15 puts a good case forward when you look at it on paper so it’s going to be tough work for the selectors.” The pacer is excited as for the first time, Australia will be able to unleash their “dream team” pace quartet of Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson.
“We’ve grown up playing against each other in different tournaments ... so it’s great to have us all here together and bowling well. (Starc and I) have been playing the majority of the past two or three years together and we’ve been doing really well. But the other two are unbelievable bowlers in their own right so it’s going to be a tough gig for the selectors for that first game. We’ve obviously got a couple of warm-up games and a bit more training to go so we’ll enjoy the next week leading in,” he added. — Agencies