![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/12070908-dd65de07-284e-4e7c-8fe1-396116613712.jpg\")
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A shockwave was sent through the Australian Test squad when a pair of seamers limped from a Sheffield Shield clash.<\/p>\n
Josh Hazlewood has been cleared of a hamstring strain with Australia confident the seamer will be fit for the first Ashes Test after a nightmare day at the SCG.<\/p>\n
Hazlewood and fellow Test squad member Sean Abbott both left the SCG for scans during NSW\u2019s 300-run Sheffield Shield loss to Victoria, after feeling tightness while bowling.<\/p>\n
The news was somewhat good for Hazlewood, who will fly to Perth and train as normal.<\/p>\n
But Abbott\u2019s chances of debuting this summer have taken a significant hit with a \u201cmoderate-grade\u201d injury.<\/p>\n
Australia had wanted their full bowling attack of Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon to feature at the SCG this week, before the Ashes begin next Friday in Perth.<\/p>\n
With captain and pace ace\u00a0Pat Cummins already missing\u00a0the start of the series with a back injury, the last thing Australia needed were further injuries this week.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s stand-in captain\u00a0Steve Smith\u00a0admitted he began to fear the worst after Hazlewood told him he was feeling tightness at the end of his fourth over on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like: \u2018Get off the field, disappear, you\u2019re done, go and figure it out\u2019,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen it was what do we do with Starc? Do we just put him on ice completely?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard when you\u2019re playing in a game and you want to try and do well for your state as well. Then you\u2019ve got an eye on, obviously next week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, Boland, you can bowl one spell (for Victoria) and be done as well, that\u2019ll be good. But he got through by the looks of things nicely, so that\u2019s ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n
An injury-enforced Hazlewood omission would be a significant blow for Australia, who haven\u2019t played without two of their \u2018Big Three\u2019 fast bowlers since December 2022.<\/p>\n
If Hazlewood is a late scratching from the first Test it would likely result in a debut for Brendan Doggett.<\/p>\n
Doggett has taken two five-wicket hauls since returning from a hamstring injury for South Australia and is one of the form bowlers in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been bowling really well the last couple of games from what I\u2019ve seen,\u201d Cummins said of Doggett at a Cricket Australia NRMA sponsorship extension on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s really well placed to be vying for a spot in that first Test. It\u2019s always nice to have a squad full of people in form and he\u2019s certainly one of those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Cummins said he was feeling well after bowling at 90 per cent on Tuesday in the SCG nets.<\/p>\n
He is a chance of playing in the second Test\u00a0at the Gabba on December 4, but the third Test in Adelaide on December 17 could be more realistic.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The Gabba) is what we\u2019re building towards,\u201d Cummins said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully by Perth I\u2019m up there near 100 per cent, and then see where we\u2019re at.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still pretty aggressive, going from nothing to trying to get ready for a Test match in four weeks. But we\u2019re going to give it a good shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
The injury scares could also place more importance on Cameron Green\u2019s fitness for the first Test, and whether Beau Webster remains in the side as a second allrounder.<\/p>\n
Green sent down eight overs in the first innings in Perth on Tuesday at good pace in what was his biggest bowling output in a match since back surgery last summer.<\/p>\n
Webster also took eight wickets for the match in Tasmania\u2019s Sheffield Shield loss to South Australia this week.<\/p>\n
But he is fighting to keep his spot in the Test side as selectors consider going with specialist opener Jake Weatherald.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to have the options there if we feel we need to go down that path at all,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got Greeny, who bowled well from what I\u2019ve heard in their game. And Slug (Webster), who took five as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled\u00a0right-winger\u00a0Braeden Bowman\u00a0from the AHL\u2019s Henderson Silver Knights. This is the first call-up of Bowman\u2019s professional career. He earns it after a hot start to Henderson\u2019s season. Bowman leads the club with seven goals, and is tied for the scoring lead with 12 points, through 12 games so far.<\/p>\n
His first call-up to the NHL is a major milestone for the undrafted Bowman. He earned a minor-league contract with Henderson out of Vegas\u2019 training camp in 2024, after four years with the OHL\u2019s Guelph Storm. Bowman scored 14 goals and 36 points in 68 games of his rookie AHL season, enough to work his way onto the Silver Knights\u2019 second-line. Vegas bumped Bowman\u2019s minor-league deal up to a two-year, entry-level contract in March, making him eligible for an NHL call-up.<\/p>\n
Bowman\u2019s rookie-year growth gave him plenty of runway headed into this season\u2019s training camp. He was a standout once again \u2013 flashing a sharp finishing ability, pro-level physicality, and quick hands. Those attributes continued to headline Bowman\u2019s game through the first month of the season, and will now be recognized by Vegas with one more home game before a two-game road-trip.<\/p>\n
Bowman could step into the lineup in place of center\u00a0William Karlsson, who remained absent from practice on Wednesday,\u00a0per Danny Webster of the Vegas Review Journal. Karlsson sustained a lower-body injury in Saturday\u2019s loss to the Anaheim Ducks and has been\u00a0designated as out day-to-day. Should that injury stick around, Bowman could earn his NHL debut in Thursday\u2019s match versus the New York Islanders. He\u2019d likely step onto the fourth-line, while\u00a0Keegan Kolesar\u00a0and\u00a0Brandon Saad\u00a0move up to fill Karlsson\u2019s absence. Vegas could also deploy\u00a0Alexander Holtz over Bowman. Holtz has no scoring through seven games this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A shockwave was sent through the Australian Test squad when a pair of seamers limped from a Sheffield Shield clash. Josh Hazlewood has been cleared of a hamstring strain with Australia confident…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t