Spin focus could see Hazlewood squeezed out again

Star quick Josh Hazlewood faces the once-unthinkable prospect of being benched for four consecutive Tests, with Australia open to picking as many as three frontline spinners in their bid to breach Sri Lanka's cricketing fortress.

Chief selector George Bailey is expecting Galle will live up to its reputation as a spin haven when the iconic venue hosts both Test matches of the Australia's tour in June-July, their first to the island in six years.

Hazlewood was an unfortunate casualty during the Aussies' series win in Pakistan last month, which was built on an attack featuring dual spinners Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson along with quicks Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.

Given Cummins is the captain and Starc's standout performances both in Pakistan and in the home Ashes series that preceded it, Hazlewood may need an injury to one of his pace partners to win his spot back in Sri Lanka.

"Recent history in Galle would suggest it's conducive to spin," Bailey said on Friday after naming a 16-man Test squad with minimal changes from the Pakistan tour.

"There's a chance that we go in with a similar sort of make up to what we finished with in Pakistan with the extra spinner and one fast bowler short.

"We know 'Hoff' is an absolutely quality bowler across all formats. He'll be there and ready to go. We might not get the conditions we expect, he's always going to be a very important figure in the Test squad."

Hazlewood has played just two Tests since January last year having also missed the bulk of last summer's Ashes series due to a side injury.

Despite his recent absence, he remains in the ICC's top-10 ranked Test bowlers and his record 215 wickets from 57 Tests would normally make him a walk-up start in most international teams.

Sri Lanka have won nine of their past 12 Tests at the seaside Galle ground that sits in the shadow of a 16th century Dutch fort, relying heavily on their slow bowlers for their success.

That sequence includes a series-sealing 229-run demolition of Australia inside three days back in 2016 when their spinners took all but one of the 20 wickets to fall.

The fact Starc played a lone hand in that trouncing with a career-best haul of 11-94, and snared 24 wickets at 15 for the three-Test series, would seem to only enhance his current standing above Hazlewood in the pecking order for a series in Asia.

Yet even the left-armer's spot could come under the microscope if Australia elect to play their third spinner – left-armer Ashton Agar remains in the Test squad having been unused in Pakistan – with Bailey insisting it will be a consideration if conditions favour slow bowlers.

"We have to be open to the possibility of playing three spinners," he said. "We've seen it done once in the past in a Test match in Bangladesh. We'll just assess that.

"It's the great thing about having a bit of depth in that area with Ashton Agar and Mitch Swepson and Nathan Lyon."

The Aussies have not played three spinners in the same Test since Lyon, Agar and Stephen O'Keefe all played in a win over Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2017, when Cummins was the only fast bowler picked.

The emergence of Cameron Green as a genuine allrounder who has grown in confidence with his seam bowling means Australia would now be sacrificing less on the pace front if they went down that path again.

Agar and Swepson will definitely have major roles in the preceding white-ball matches given star spinner Adam Zampa will miss the tour due to the birth of his first child. 

Bailey suggested there was a strong degree of flexibility to the four squads named for the seven-week tour that also features four Australia A matches, which overlap with the T20 and one-day internationals.

In the absence of a tour match before the Tests, long-form specialists like Lyon could be parachuted in for the A games while Bailey also said they would have to consider how best to prepare Agar and Swepson for the Tests.

Both spinners have had limited opportunities to play first-class cricket since the pandemic began; Agar mostly due to his involvement in Australia's limited-overs teams and Swepson mainly because he has been part of extended bio-secure bubbles as Lyon's understudy in the Test squad.

"Those guys will be heavily involved in the white ball series in the T20s and ODIs as well," Bailey said of Agar and Swepson.

"Getting our balance right (is important). Talking to both those guys, I know 'Swepo' does like to be doing a little bit of red-ball specific stuff. Ash is more comfortable, it's more about repeatability for him and is confident in his ability to change formats pretty quickly.

"The advantage of both of them is they're just keen to be playing the game, it doesn't necessarily matter where at the moment."

Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka, 2022

T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner, Matthew Wade

June 7: First T20, Colombo

June 8: Second T20, Colombo

June 11: Third T20, Kandy

ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

June 14: First ODI, Kandy

June 16: Second ODI, Kandy

June 19: Third ODI, Colombo

June 21: Fourth ODI, Colombo

June 24: Fifth ODI, Colombo

Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

June 29 - July 3: First Test, Galle

July 8-12: Second Test, Galle

Australia A fixtures

Squad: Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Pete Handscomb, Aaron Hardie, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Henry Hunt, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nic Maddinson, Todd Murphy, Josh Philippe, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Tanveer Sangha, Mark Steketee

June 8: First one-day game, Colombo

June 10: Second one-day game, Colombo

June 14-17: first-class tour match, Hambantota

June 21-24: first-class tour match, Hambantota