Hazlewood out of Bangladesh and India tours

Australia's pace spearheads will both enter this summer's Ashes series with precious little cricket behind them, after Josh Hazlewood joined Mitchell Starc on the injured list with a side strain on day three of the first Test against Bangladesh.

Hazlewood had just delivered the first ball of his second over of the day - and his fifth of the innings - when he clutched his side and consulted with captain Steven Smith before walking off for an assessment.

By the close of play, it had been decided that Hazlewood would be sent home at the end of the match, with a replacement paceman to be named by the national selectors on Wednesday. The injury will take at least a month's recovery time, which also rules Hazlewood out of the ODI tour of India in September and October.

Alongside Starc, who is recovering from a foot stress fracture, Hazlewood is critical to Australia's Ashes chances as a key member of a pace attack expected to pose the primary threat to England on Australian pitches. But both bowlers will now need to gain fitness in time to run themselves into form with Sheffield Shield appearances for New South Wales ahead of the first Test at the Gabba in late November.

Pat Cummins, Australia's only pacer in the match after Hazlewood withdrew, said that Hazlewood would be very difficult to replace for the next Test in Chittagong, where the surface is expected to aid the seamers more than Dhaka.

"He's going to be really hard to replace. He's played all but one of the last 30 Tests," Cummins said. "He said it is going to be pretty hard sitting at home, watching; he hasn't done that for three or four years. So he's a big member around the group. I am going to miss having dinner with him every night, but we have got Jackson Bird waiting in the wings, which is great.

"He's been bowling beautifully here. Again, someone who has been around the team a long time and been bowling really well. Had some great performances for Australia in the past as well. It's not good to miss Joshy, but we're lucky we have such a strong squad over here."

Australia were lucky, too, to still be in the Test match after restricting Bangladesh to a fourth-innings lead of 264, and then seeing their captain Steven Smith and his deputy David Warner play with verve to cut the requirement down to 156 with eight wickets in hand. Cummins said Warner's controlled aggression had been an inspiring sight.

"Keeping our target to 260 really kept us in the game, and then starting like we did tonight, if we have a good first hour tomorrow, it should really set the game up," Cummins said. "That last hour or so should give us a lot of confidence, I am certainly really confident. Smithy and Dave look like they had really good game plans out there and they were in control. So that is really promising, and it is only 150 runs or so away, so a good couple of hours in the morning and, hopefully, we get pretty close.

"[Warner is] such a big player for us and you could just see it in his eye when he was out there. He was so focused. We always say, 'be the bull', and he looked like he was the 'Bull' out there; just focused and taking the game on. He got his 50 rapidly, and I think it just changes the whole momentum but also the mindset for the other batsmen who are to come in, just taking the game on. It is great.

"We spoke about, especially in the India series, and again here, really backing what works for you back in Australia. So, if you don't run down the wicket, you don't have to run down the wicket here. If you don't sweep, you don't have to sweep. Just sticking to your game plan, but making sure it is a strong game plan. I think today showed just a really, really strong solid defence, and when he needed to, his brutal stroke making. So it is definitely the 'Bull' we have come to expect and it is great to see it out here as well."