Injured Hazlewood, Starc on track

The duo is on track to be fit for its World Cup defence. Hazlewood has been sidelined since January with a back injury, while Starc pulled out of Australia’s Twenty20 and One-Day tour of India last month with a ‘substantial’ muscle tear. The pair’s return to the nets is timely after pacer Jhye Richardson returned home this week, from Australia’s One-Day series against Pakistan with a dislocated shoulder.

“When the squad gets announced, I’ll probably be 65-70%. I’ve still got a good four or five weeks from that date to get ready to play One-Day cricket,” Hazlewood said in a Cricket Australia podcast. Australia’s WC squad must be named by April 23, with the tournament starting in England on May 30.

The team will have a training camp in Brisbane in early May and it is expected to play some warm-up games against New Zealand before heading to Great Britain. “I don’t think I’ll be fit for those, but for the warm-up matches in England, I think I’ll be fine,” added Hazlewood.

Starc, the 2015 WC Player of the Tournament, is also faring well in his comeback since picking up the injury during the second Test against Sri Lanka in early February. “He (Starc) looks fine, he started bowling as well this week,” said Hazlewood. “He is not coming back after a big break like me. So, it won’t take him long to get up and running. He seems to be heading in the right direction.”