Australian quick Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of Friday’s second ODI against England in Brisbane with illness, while gloveman Alex Carey has been called up to cover for Tim Paine.
The Aussies lost the first of the five-match series against the tourists in Melbourne last Sunday, and with Hazelwood on Thursday determined too unwell to play, paceman Jhye Richardson appears set to make his debut on a Gabba pitch expected to provide plenty for fast bowlers.
“You’re always confident as an Australian batsman when you come and look at this wicket, that’s for sure,” Australian vice captain David Warner told Cricket Australia’s official website on Wednesday.
“It’s always got good bounce and carry for the bowlers as well.”
Hazlewood is among several players in both the Australian and English locker rooms to be hit by illness in recent weeks, with teammates Paine, Warner, Steve Smith and Patrick Cummins all stuck down by a bug.
England Test captain Joe Root suffered through stomach problems during the Ashes test series, while batsman James Vince has also been affected during the tour.
Paine remains in doubt for Friday’s clash, with Carey on standby, after he made a dashing century off just 56 balls for the Adelaide Strikers in Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash League Wednesday, to beat the Hobart Hurricanes.
The 26-year-old, who was previously floated as a potential wicketkeeper for the Ashes, is set to make his international ODI debut if Paine is not cleared to play.
“He’s taken his game to another level,” Australia opener Aaron Finch told reporters.
“To come out this year when there was a lot of talk about the Ashes’ keeping spot —and who was going to play — the way that he put his hand up and has continued to do so for such a young guy is really impressive.”
The teams (from) :
Australia : Steve Smith (Capt.), David Warner, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Cameron White and Adam Zampa.
England : Eoin Morgan (Capt.), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood .
