Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott hand Australia injury scares ahead of The Ashes 2025-26

With England and Australia all set to take on each other in the ongoing Ashes 2025-26 series, the two sides are hard at work in preparing for the marquee series. With the first Test all set to begin on November 21 in Perth, Australia, the team has been handed a major injury scare.

The two pacers have suffered hamstring issues during New South Wales' clash with Victoria at the SCG. It is worth noting that the pair did not appear after lunch on day three, having left the field during the first session.

It is worth noting that Australia skipper Pat Cummins has already been ruled out of the first Test of the series due to a lumbar bone stress issue in his lower back. Speaking on the situation with Hazlewood and Abbott, Cummins confirmed that the two pacers have had their hamstrings scanned. 

"There was a bit happening there for an hour or so. They both got scans. Haven't 100% got across all the details. I think Josh, he was pretty chipper when he got out [of the scans], so hopefully he should be fine. Sean, I'm not so sure about. I think they are still assessing,” Cummins was quoted as saying. 

"Obviously a week away from the Test series kind of always there on the side of caution. So then I wanted to find out what was happening before kind of pushing it and potentially making anything worse,” he added. 

Cummins opened up on his injury situation

Furthermore, Pat Cummins reiterated that he would not be ready for Perth despite being in decent shape during a bowling session at the SCG on November 12. However, he reaffirmed that there would not be any more changes to Australia’s bowling attack for the upcoming series. 

"We'll wait to see how it comes out over the next 24 hours. As I said, I think Josh is pretty confident when he walked out, so hopefully shouldn't make too much of an issue,” Cummins said.