Josh Hazlewood says the team is trying to limit the number of people who decide when to take a review
Daniel Brettig at the Gabba21-Nov-2019If it didn’t quite go to plan – the slip fielders pushing for a review to the edge from Shaheen Afridi’s bat – there was evidence at the Gabba that Australia have thought long and hard about improving their use of DRS in the field after a nightmarish streak in England.During the Ashes it was not until the fifth and final Test at the Oval that the captain Tim Paine successfully reviewed an on-field call of not out from an umpire, but it took only one day of the home summer for a successful overturn to be achieved when Afridi edged Mitchell Starc behind first ball.Josh Hazlewood, who claimed two wickets as part of a sustained “strangle” of Pakistan’s batting by the Australian attack, explained that the hosts were aiming to keep DRS discussions to as few voices as possible, namely the bowler and wicketkeeper, with additional advice from a square of the wicket fielder for height in the case of lbws. This element was seen when Hazlewood appealed for an early lbw against Azhar Ali before the fielders rightly elected not to challenge the umpire’s not out verdict.Josh Hazlewood continued to win the battle against Babar Azam•Getty Images”I think just keeping it every simple, we were trying to get the bowler and keeper obviously, and height’s a big issue with the lbws so we try to get someone from point in, just have a quick chat, keep it quite simple, why didn’t the umpire give it out,” Hazlewood said. “At least we have a process then and we can judge ourselves if we’re getting better or worse and change the process or keep it going the same if we’re going well. Worked today, we got one caught behind, so we’ll tick one off.”Just keeping it as simple as possible between whoever’s bowling and the keeper, and if it’s an lbw then height. If someone hears something, they can run in and yell it out if it’s very clear, but trying to restrict it to those three people.”The Australians were rewarded for perseverance and minor adjustments to their bowling across the day, pushing for a fuller length after being a little too short early on. These tactical discussions are now the purview of the new senior assistant coach Andrew McDonald, and they were aided by the fact that the bowling was disciplined enough to ensure that Pakistan could never dictate terms with their scoring rate.”I thought we strangled them to a degree in that first session, we probably bowled too short on the majority, especially the first hour I think,” Hazlewood said. “We got better as the day went on. While the scoreboard wasn’t moving, we didn’t feel too much pressure, we thought if we could get a couple [of wickets], we could get three or four in a row, which we did. That strangle mindset was certainly in effect out there, especially in that first session. A little bit to work on, but it was a pretty good comeback I thought.There was no early success for the Australia attack•Getty Images”Ideally you make it [the adjustment in length] straight away. It is hard sometimes, all three of us bowled at the SCG last week, which was exact opposite conditions if that makes sense, but we just got better in that first session. Could’ve done it earlier, but I thought eh scoreboard was going nowhere so the pressure wasn’t quite on us as much as it could’ve been.”The reward for the combination of consistent pressure and tactical tweaks was a continuation of Hazlewood’s domination when bowling to Babar Azam – a fourth ball edge in Brisbane was the fifth time he had dismissed the Pakistani shot-maker in four Tests.”It’s huge to try and stay on top of him for sure,” Hazlewood said. “He’s probably coming off T20 cricket as well, and we know he’s a stroke-maker, so he certainly likes to put the pressure back on you as a bowler and you feel if you can get him early you and get a rash shot like that sometimes. But if he drives for four, he’s away as well in his game. It can go both ways there, but we were lucky enough to get the nick, and hopefully stay on top of him for the series.”
