Josh Hazlewood braced for challenge of England tour, IPL and quarantine

Josh Hazlewood is among Australia's multi-format players who could face a difficult balancing act over the next few months as they negotiate the various challenges of touring in the current Covid-19 climate and how it may impact their preparation for the home international season.

With the limited-overs tour of England looking increasingly likely to take place in September there is then the probability of an IPL filling the gap of the soon-to-be-postponed T20 World Cup which will overlap significantly with the start of the Australian summer.

Under the current border restrictions players returning or coming to Australia would need to quarantine for two weeks. The Test summer is currently due to start with the one-off match against Afghanistan on November 21 in Perth, which would appear an unworkable time frame for any players involved until the latter stages of the IPL's proposed period, ahead of the series against India from December 3.

Hazlewood, who is part of the enlarged 26-man training squad that was named last week, has an IPL deal with Chennai Super Kings and will also be expected to be part of the Test attack. CA has previously recalled players from the IPL to prepare for international duty and among the Australians with deals Pat Cummins, Steven Smith and David Warner would also be Test certainties. Hazlewood is confident that he would be ready for Test cricket with as little as one Sheffield Shield outing, but said it would be vital for players, especially fast bowlers, to be able to train while undergoing quarantine.

"As long as we can train during that period it will be okay, it's if we come back and we can't train during that two-week period," he said. "We've built these loads up as fast bowlers then two weeks really hurts us coming into a summer of Test cricket.

"As far as red-ball ball cricket goes I feel I only need one, maximum two games, to get ready for a Test. There have been summers where we've come from a white-ball tour and only played one [red-ball game] and it's been fine. Everyone is a bit different, some guys need a bit more bowling and some less but we'll try to get that balance right."

Hazlewood admitted the prospect of the IPL taking place creates some "tough" decisions for those with deals, but believes the benefits of the tournament outweigh the negatives of missing domestic cricket in Australia.

"There are a few things to fall into place yet but the IPL is such a huge part of the year for a lot of players and probably the strongest T20 competition in the world, up there with the Big Bash, and you learn a lot about how to play your T20 cricket and how to play in those conditions," he said. "You've seen guys come out of it much better players so there's a lot of positives to it, so if that takes a few games off us playing for New South Wales in the build-up to the international summer that's a tough call, [and] probably comes back to the individual."

Hazlewood has been back bowling at New South Wales' pre-season for about five weeks and believes the enforced break has been a benefit for the quicks. With the England tour now on the cards he expects more restrictions to be placed on what players can do ahead of the trip to reduce the risk of catching Covid-19. Melbourne is currently under another lockdown, although Victoria-based players can still train, while cases are rising in New South Wales.

The current England-West Indies series has provided the template for what biosecure cricket will look like, with the high-profile breach made by Jofra Archer showing how seriously protocols are being taken.

"Jofra is one example and there's been examples in the AFL and NRL, just by hugging a mate in the crowd you miss a week," Hazlewood said. "Got to keep those strict lines in place to have the sport go ahead so we'll learn from that mistake."

There was also the less serious mishap of Dom Sibley accidentally applying saliva to the ball during the fourth day's play at Old Trafford in contravention of the new playing conditions. It led to the umpires cleaning the ball with a disinfectant wipe before play could continue. Hazlewood has been trying to train himself for the new processes but said it takes time to break habits.

"It's a pretty natural habit... it's just such a reaction to see a spot on the ball that needs fixing and you go and put some saliva on. You've been doing it since five years old so it will take a while to break the habit but obviously conscious of it on the field."