Hazlewood's 'uncharted territory' puts Australia on alert

The risks of asking Josh Hazlewood to push through three consecutive Tests is likely to be the decision that will most occupy the minds of Australia's selectors ahead of Headingley, where the Ashes can be secured.

Todd Murphy's inclusion to replace the injured Nathan Lyon is all-but rubberstamped, but when Hazlewood appeared at Lord's it became the first time he had played consecutive Tests since 2020-21 following a series of injuries.

He was held back from the World Test Championship final against India to ensure he was ready for the Ashes and has since bowled 56 overs in two Tests, claiming eight wickets, although his economy is 4.64. It is not a massive workload, but one that may give the selectors some pause with the third Test beginning just three days after Lord's.

"He'd be the obvious one you'd be a bit more careful of," captain Pat Cummins said. "The tour so far for him has gone as well as he could have hoped - no injuries, but he is kind of uncharted territory for the last year or two.

"I think there will be some conversation around that. I think he bowled 25 and 35 [25 and 31], which isn't extreme numbers, but again you weigh up this game versus the last two, how he's tracking so we'll work through that.

"It's a quick turnaround," he added. "It's obviously a huge match, but there are three matches to come. So you don't want to put anyone in high risk than you'd like knowing that there's a couple of fresh guys on the bench that come straight in."

While the major prize of retaining the Ashes with a series victory can be achieved at Headingley, the two remaining Tests at Old Trafford and The Oval would still carry important WTC points with this series being the first in the new cycle where Australia are defending champions.

Should Hazlewood be benched for this game, Scott Boland would be the likely replacement ahead of Michael Neser, who has been retained in the squad. Boland played the opening Test at Edgbaston, where England took him at nearly a run-a-ball, but Cummins would have no qualms over his return.

"We have such high standards of him [Boland] because of how well he has bowled," Cummins said. "You saw in that little stretch where conditions were in our favour, how damaging he could be."

During the Lord's Test, David Warner spoke about the difficulties he was facing with damaged fingers, but Cummins was not aware of them being a concern and Warner netted on Tuesday.

"I saw him icing them at one stage in the changeroom and then him talking about it was the only time I'd heard of it," he said. "So I don't think it's an issue."

Victory at Headingley, meaning a first away Ashes series win since 2001, would cement the legacy of this Australian Test team following their WTC title. Cummins was a central figure in the drawn 2-2 series in 2019, which meant the urn was retained, but conceded there were mixed feelings.

"I think everyone felt a bit differently about it," he said. "In Manchester, when we won that Test match to retain it, there was a big celebration where some people, me included, kind of thought, 'do you celebrate when you retain it'. I genuinely didn't know. For me it's always about winning a series outright so that's the goal. We want to win one of these last three Test matches."