Josh Hazlewood etched his name into Australian cricket folklore during the series opener against Bangladesh in Darwin, picking up his 300th Test wicket en route to a 14th career five-for. The 35-year-old now stands alongside Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc as the only attack in the format’s history to feature four bowlers who have each crossed the 300-wicket mark.
Among the nine Australians in the 300-club, only Glenn McGrath, Cummins and Dennis Lillee boast a better bowling average than Hazlewood’s 24.02, underlining the remarkable consistency of his craft.
Speaking to Kayo Sports after the feat, Hazlewood admitted such landmarks rarely cross his mind mid-game. “You don’t really think about those sort of milestones when you’re playing,” he said, adding that it was something he’d likely reflect on once his career winds down and that sharing the list with three current teammates made it “pretty cool.”
The road to 300 wasn’t straightforward. Hazlewood walked into the Test needing five wickets, having featured in just six of Australia’s last 14 matches and none over the past year owing to injury, with selectors even weighing Scott Boland as an alternative for the opener.
On a pitch that offered little for the bowlers, Hazlewood was the standout, dismantling Bangladesh’s middle and lower order after early chances went begging. He removed Mominul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Hasan Mahmud, among others, before wrapping up his sixth wicket, his first six-for in nine years, to seal the innings.
“They hung in there tough,” Hazlewood said. “Yeah, it’s pretty hard work out there on that track. We probably stuck it out; we didn’t let the runs flow too quickly there at the end. It was just that Bangladesh hung in there nice and tough, and it was tough to get wickets out there, so it was a good effort.”
However, despite Hazlewood picking up that six-wicket haul, Bangladesh managed a massive lead of 228 runs. At the end of Day 3, the Aussies are in a spot of bother, scoring 161/4, still trailing by 67 runs.
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