Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc has spoken about the confusion that followed after both Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott got injured during a Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Victoria. Their injuries came just days before the first Ashes Test in Perth on November 21.
Speaking on LiSTNR’s The Howie Games: Ashes Diaries, Starc wished Abbott a quick recovery. “I feel for the big fella. Seany [Abbott], his original scan came back, and it wasn’t great news for him. He’s always been so close to being in the Test squads, so hopefully it’s a speedy recovery for Sean,” Starc said.
He then said things became even more stressful after Hazlewood’s scans showed a hamstring problem. Starc added, “We found out today that his [Hazlewood’s] follow-up scan was not too good. It’s not ideal. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been in the squad without Josh [Hazlewood] and Pat [Cummins] it’s going to be a bit different this week.”
Starc revealed that even captain Steve Smith did not expect both bowlers to leave the game so suddenly. Starc recalled, “On the ground, it was a bit of chaos. I didn’t even see Josh go off the field originally… Sean disappeared as well, and then we were scrambling a little bit — Smithy being captain, and I was in the gully — and we got the message that neither of the boys were going to bowl again, and Josh had awareness in his hammy.”
He added that Smith immediately pulled him and Scott Boland out of the match to avoid any further risk. “Smithy’s mind was racing, and he quickly put me on ice… We can’t take any more chances,” Starc said.
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