Pat Cummins is likely to start in place of Josh Hazlewood for Australia in the first test against South Africa

The injured pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of Australia’s opening Test against South Africa in Brisbane this week on Monday. However, the captain of the team, Pat Cummins, “appears probable” to participate in the match.

Hazlewood, who has a side strain and missed the just-completed second Test against the West Indies in Adelaide, was the only player cut from a 14-man team. The match was played in Australia.

Cummins, on the other hand, is expected to make a comeback after also missing the victory by 419 runs in Adelaide due to a thigh injury. This means that either Michael Neser or Scott Boland would be left out of the team, despite the fact that both players had successful returns to the Test arena against the Caribbean side.

The uncapped sprinter Lance Morris is still a part of the 14-man roster and will be considered for the wildcard spot.

“Pat continues to progress, bowled with freedom on Saturday, and is certain to play this match,” said George Bailey, who is the main selector for the team. “Josh will need more time,” said Bailey.

“Having taken all of this into consideration, we have decided to keep Michael Neser and Lance Morris as members of the squad for this encounter.

He continued by saying that both Michael and Scott bowled quite well in Adelaide.

“Their performances, which backed up what they have achieved in the past, continued to impress us, as they have since the beginning. The amount of time that Lance spends with the team will be beneficial for him as an extremely promising prospect.

After beating the West Indies in two consecutive tests by a combined total of 419 runs and 164 runs, Australia is in excellent form as they prepare to face the Proteas in the first of three tests beginning on Friday.

Pat Cummins is the captain of the Australian team, which consists of the following players: Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Michael Neser, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, and David Warner.