Josh Hazlewood has his swing back and says there is a freedom that comes with approaching every Test as though it may be your last as he prepares for the second match in the series in Gqeberha on Sunday.

The champion, who snared career best figures when able to attain reverse swing on the final day in Durban, was responding to captain Pat Cummins’ assessment last Tuesday that it was important to relish every opportunity they play together.

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“I think it’s spoken about. Probably from my point of view, I just play every Test match as it comes,” he said.

“(It) could be the last one whenever. (But) I don’t think about it much. It was great fun last week playing with the same guys, doing the work in the last innings and taking the 20 wickets for the game … but I don’t look too far ahead these days.”

But the star bowler, who secured 6-49 in the second innings of the opening Test as Australia seized a 214-run win, believes the rational is more applicable to batsmen in the dotage of their career than bowlers.

The 35-year-old pointed to the example of Usman Khawaja when saying that top-order stars can rally when playing in their golden twilight of their careers, something Australia will undoubtedly hope occurs with Steve Smith over the next year

“Oh, I’m certainly always pretty relaxed when I’m playing. Always have been,” he said in Gqeberha on Friday.

“But I think you certainly do go through a period there at the end, probably more from a batter’s point of view … and you’ve seen people have golden sort of eras at the back end when I guess they say it’s the icing on top of the cake.

“They’ve already done all the hard work and everything’s a bonus from here on in. Usman and even Matty Wade had a nice little period there at the end where I guess they don’t not care as much, (and) they have a bit more freedom and it’s not going to change their life if they make 100 or make a duck. So I guess (there is) a little golden period then, maybe.”

Hazlewood joined the Australians for the main training session in the next ahead of the second Test of the series starting in the coastal city formerly known as Port Elizabeth under blazing sunshine of Friday morning.

The Aussies were split into different camps at the magnificent St George’s Oval, a picturesque venue with a pitch that Hazlewood suspects will play similar to that in Durban, even if the conditions are less humid 900km down the coastline.

Marnus Labuschagne had the guns out when wearing an Australian singlet while facing Nathan Lyon and Matt Kuhnemann in tandem in a practice net on the ground. Other teammates were either stretching on the ground or in the main training nets.

But there was a roar when Mitchell Starc came into the middle and delivered a rip-snorting inswinger that looked to have struck him dead in front. The verdict from the press box was that Marnus was out.

Beau Webster had the misfortune of following Labuschagne in, so to speak. He played and missed a number of times, crunched what would have been a superb drive through point and then got the thickest of edges to where 1st slip would stand.

To see the manner with which Star was tearing in suggested he was raring to go and Hazlewood, who had the ball reverse swinging late in the match in Durban, said all had come through the five day Test in Durban in good order.

“(We’re) pretty good. It’s been a quiet few days, so we’ll go ahead today and tick a few boxes that we need to for the next game. But … everything feels pretty good,” he said.

The Aussie attack featuring Hazlewood rested on Thursday, with Scott Boland terrorising those who batted in the nets, and the New South Welshman has no doubts that his Victorian counterpart will feature at some stage in the next couple of series.

“He barely bowls poorly. (After) every net, the boys come in and they are like, ‘Sheesh. It was Scotty again.’” Hazlewood said.

“I think he’ll play a part in this series. I think he’ll play a part in the next 12 to 18 months. He is a class act. His record is ridiculous (and) it probably makes it a bit easier on us if we are struggling from time to time to then think that Scotty is there, ready to go. It can make those conversations a bit easier.

“And, again, it’s more of a unit. And moving forward, we cannot miss those big chunks (and instead) we might miss a week or two here and there, and things settle quicker, and just got a nice even period.”

Boland also blitzed them in the nets in Durban. But what made the Australians even more deadly was the return of reverse swing, which became a dirty word in these parts after the debacle that unfolded in Cape Town back in 2018.

Hazlewood said the conditions in Australia in recent years, with green mambas a feature leading to shorter Tests, meant reversing the ball was a rarity at home, but on a more abrasive pitch like the one in Durban, it can become a factor.

“With Australia being the green seamers, it just doesn’t get talked about. The ball still looks new late in the innings if it gets that far,” he said.

“It’s more … if you go back to SCG years ago, we definitely got reverse there every year and then here in South Africa, it is just an abrasive wicket and very hard on the foot.

“We probably got a hint of it in the first innings and then as the game goes, it just sort of deteriorates more, and you get a bit more. So we knew it was crucial.

“You probably want the ball a little bit harder (to get) a little bit of reverse swing, rather than a lot of reverse swing and the ball soft, because that is much easier to navigate as a batsman. So you still want that carry with a harder ball, with just a hint of reversing, I think is the key.”

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Hazlewood was full of praise for the performance of Matthew Renshaw in the first Test, but it was the ability of the lower-order including the No.11 to provide assistance that allowed the Queenslander to build a matchwinning innings.

Australian coach Andrew McDonald said preceding the series that it could rest on the ability of the tail to wag and the Aussies did so with distinction in Durban after crumbling to 6-124 on the first day.

“I wouldn’t say it’s fun. I’d say it’s … satisfying when you can do it,” he said.

“I think that’s the difference between maybe now and I didn’t watch much footage of you know 70s, 80s, 90s of cricket, but I think even someone like a number 11 can come out and just have a great defence,” he said.

“The number nine and 10 can hit you back over your head for six. So once the ball is soft, it’s quite tough to dislodge the tail sometimes if they want to stick around. And obviously the key is being with a batter.

“Probably we’ve seen (Ben) Stokes do it in the past. We’ve hung around with (Cameron) Green in New Zealand and at different times with Gaza (Lyon) and Renshaw in the last Test.

“So I think obviously the key is having that five, six, or seven batter hanging around (and) he can do the scoring, and we can hold up an end. And I think that part of cricket can be frustrating for fielding teams for sure.”

But at a time when question marks remain over the Australian top order, Hazlewood said it would not happen every time.

“It depends on the wicket, probably. I think if it’s spinning or it’s fast and bouncy, it can change the scenario pretty quickly,” he said.

“But I remember England had a great tail there at one point. I think Stuart Broad was number 11 in a few Test matches, so it was always frustrating bowling at those guys late in the day when you’re tired and have got an old ball.

“So I think if you have that thought in your head every time you go out there to bat, then that holds you in good stead.”

Hazlewood said the Proteas will be strengthened by the return of Kagiso Rabada, who bowled a couple of overs at South African training on Thursday, warning that every Australian batter will be on red alert when facing him.

“The skill set (he has is) amazing. His strike rate is second to none,” he said.

“I think in terms of numbers, every time he plays against us, he seems to create a bit of havoc. So yeah, he’s a class player, and I think the batters are going to be switched on when he comes out.”



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