Hamstrung Hazlewood out, Doggett in line for Test debut

Brendan Doggett is poised for an Ashes Test debut after secondary scans revealed a hamstring injury for Australian veteran Josh Hazlewood.

Hazlewood suffered the strain on Wednesday while playing a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG.

Initial scans cleared him of major damage, but Cricket Australia revealed on Saturday that a follow-up scan confirmed the strain.

Hazlewood will remain at home, rather than joining teammates on the flight to Perth. It is unclear when he will be fit enough to feature in the five-Test series.

Captain Pat Cummins (back) is also missing the first Test, which begins at Optus Stadium on Friday.

It means the hosts will enter the high-profile series without their two highest-ranked Test bowlers, with Cummins and Hazlewood currently fourth and sixth in the standings.

It will mark the first time in nearly three years that Australia have played a Test without two of their 'Big Three' quicks and only the second time since 2014 they've played a home Test without Cummins and Hazlewood.

They won both of those matches though with Michael Neser, added to the squad on Saturday as cover for Hazlewood, playing in both Tests.

Test squad member Sean Abbott is also sidelined, having suffered a hamstring setback on the same day during the same game as Hazlewood.

Sitting on 295 Test scalps, Hazlewood missed three of the five Tests against India last summer, firstly because of a side strain and then a calf injury.

"Initial scans Wednesday were clear of muscle strain, however follow-up imaging today has confirmed the injury," a CA statement on Saturday said.

"Early imaging can occasionally underestimate low-grade muscle injuries."

Hazlewood's enforced omission will likely result in a Test debut for uncapped squad member Doggett to play alongside spearhead Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and spinner Nathan Lyon.

Doggett, 31, would be the first quick to debut since Boland in the 2021 Boxing Day Test and the first quick outside of Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and Boland to play a Test for Australia since December 2022.

Neser will join the team in Perth, with Queensland's two-Test seamer a potentially handy inclusion for the second, pink-ball Test on his home Gabba track.

Rockhampton-born Doggett's first taste of the Test environment came in 2018 as part of the squad, picked after starring in the Sheffield Shield final when he was playing for Queensland.

Injuries stalled his progress but a move to South Australia has slowly paid off under current and former coaches Ryan Harris and Jason Gillespie.

In prolific form, he again earned a call-up to the Australian squad for last year's Indian Test series and starred in the Redbacks' Shield victory.

Against his former team Doggett took 11 wickets to end their 29-year title drought.

He'll enter the Perth Test on the back of six and five-wicket Shield hauls.

"Not only is he an athlete, but he has pace and makes it look easy. And he keeps coming, which you have to do in Test cricket," former Australian and Bulls quick Michael Kasprowicz said of Doggett.

"I'm not (concerned by lack of Test exposure) because I just know that the Shield competition is the best in the world.

"That gives me confidence that talent is going to see its way through."