Australia left sweating over health of David Warner and Josh Hazlewood

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Australia’s victory celebration after the first Ashes test was tempered by question marks about the fitness of David Warner and Josh Hazlewood

The hosts won the series opener in Brisbane with nine wickets and knocked down an England setback with eight for 74 in a emphatic display on the fourth morning.

There have been many positives to look back for first-time captain Pat Cummins, from the stellar 152 Travis Head won as Player of the Match Honors, to Alex Carey’s impressive debut as a wicket keeper and Nathan Lyon’s 400th Test wicket .

But he was also forced to ease a few of his most senior men through the second half of the game.

Josh Hazlewood was in pain in England’s second innings (Jason O’Brien / PA)

(PA wire)

Hazlewood was used sparingly in England’s second innings, bowling only 14 of 103 overs and suffering from an unknown injury.

Warner, meanwhile, suffered bruised ribs after receiving a couple of punches from Ben Stokes and didn’t come out to hit as Australia pursued their 20-run target.

Both will be given every chance to take the second day / night test in Adelaide, with five days processing time between games.

“Joshy is a little sore so we’ll see him wake up in the morning,” said Cummins.


When we had 20 to win we couldn’t find it! We looked all over the stadium.

Pat Cummins on David Warner.

“The key is that we don’t want to put him in jeopardy for the whole series, so let’s take our time. He had a scan last night and we’re going to work that through. There’s no plan yet, we’ll sleep on it.

“There are five series of tests and he is important to us, we didn’t want to blow him out of the water on the third day.”

As for Warner, who hit out of discomfort to make 94 before retiring to the locker room for the rest of the game, he added, “Davey was available to hit. We just decided not to risk it.

“When we had 20 to win, we couldn’t find him! We looked all over the stadium. I think he will be fine for Adelaide. He still hurts a lot, but we’ll watch him and he should be fine. “