Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood has sent a powerful message to England ahead of the much-awaited Ashes 2025-26 series. Josh Hazlewood has warned England’s bowlers to think twice before sledding Australian batsmen in the upcoming high-voltage five-match Test series.
The blockbuster five-match Test series is set to begin on November 21 at Perth’s Optus Stadium, with both teams gearing up for an intense series. England, known for their aggressive ‘buzz ball’ style, used tactical sledding to sway India during the recently drawn Test series at home.
Josh Hazlewood warns England’s verbal tactics will only backfire against Australia
But Hazlewood made it clear that such tactics would not work against the current Australian side. The experienced fast bowler said that most of the batsmen in the team, including Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green, will not even notice the verbal abuse in the upcoming Ashes 2025-26 as they have faced England’s attack many times.
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The Australian speedster explained that modern players are much more focused and mentally stronger than before. Hazlewood believes that sledding, which once played a big part in on-field psychological warfare, has less of an impact on players in today’s day and age. In fact, the fast bowler said sledding often backfires as it motivates batsmen to perform even better under pressure.
News Corp quoted Josh Hazlewood as saying: “Honestly, I’m not going to move up our batting order, especially guys like Marnus (Labuschagne) and Cam Green. They’re so focused on their game and their batting that I don’t think you’ll hear that from them. I think a lot of batsmen are like that these days.”
Josh Hazlewood predicts intense ‘Ashes’ series
The Australian pacer also warned that there may be some heated moments in the upcoming Ashes series, but that both sides have enough experience to keep things under control and not let their emotions spill. Hazlewood expects tough competition over the five Test matches.
Hazlewood concluded: “We don’t know how it’s going to go. There will be hot moments, but I think it’s going to be pretty flat over the course of the five-Test series. We’re all pretty experienced and realize it doesn’t really affect people these days. You can still find the odd guy that might be affected, but for the most part it’s probably going to turn on people and make them play better.”
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Notably, Hazlewood is currently gearing up for the five-match T20I series against India. However, the star pacer will only play three T20I matches against India as part of Cricket Australia’s workload management strategy. They recently won the ODI series at home against India by a huge margin of 2-1.
Meanwhile, Australia captain Pat Cummins is one of three key players to deal with injury concerns ahead of the upcoming Ashes series. Cameron Green will miss the ODI series against India due to a side strain, while Beau Webster has an ankle problem.