Final frontiers drive Hazlewood in twilight years

Josh Hazlewood has more boxes to tick in a stellar career after returning to peak fitness following several injury impacted years.The 35-year-old Australia paceman, veteran of 76 Tests, has never won a series in India or England, two classic confrontations that loom large in the 20 Tests at least the team are set to play in the next 12 months.Australia have not won an away Ashes series since 2001, while 2004 was the last triumph in India — well before any of the current squad were playing Tests."The big series are obviously England and India. I haven't won in South Africa either, so there are a few boxes to tick off there, not just me, but this whole playing group," Hazlewood said."That's been a driving factor during this prep, it is in the back of your head, and in the months leading into it. They're real big Test series, all away against tough competition. Hopefully we get the job done."Hazlewood's most recent setback in the Test sphere came when Achilles tendon and hamstring injuries cruelled any involvement in last summer's Ashes series.Since then he has returned to the bowling crease with a bang, helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru win back-to-back IPL titles.Hazlewood has been preparing with other members of the Australia squad at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane ahead of two Tests against Bangladesh in Darwin and Mackay next month.He said the "big days" of training in one location and without other playing commitments had been ideal."Leading into other Test series and Test matches, you're playing T20, you're playing one-dayers, you're travelling, so it's tough to fit those bowling sessions in," he said."It's just trying to replicate a day in the field of Test cricket. It's bowling multiple spells in a day. It's bowling back-to-back days.""This has been tailor-made for a Test match, which I think should work out well."Hazlewood said it would be "tough" for any of the quicks in the squad to play every Test in the next year."Maybe a spinner," he quipped.Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett and Michael Neser will all be vying for games.Boland, who has been in sensational Test form, has been mostly overlooked when Hazlewood was previously available, but it need not be an either/or proposition."I think we've only played one game together … in England at Edgbaston, which was nice. I'd love to play more with Scotty," Hazlewood said."We're obviously a little bit similar, but there are still a lot of differences in our bowling. Every time he's come in, he's done unbelievably well. His career just keeps getting better and better the older he gets."I think there are enough opportunities in the next 12 to 18 months for us to play a lot of cricket, hopefully, together. We've got Ness (Neser) and Doggy (Doggett) there as well, so I think we'll have to lean on all six at some point in the next 18 months."Hazlewood's most recent injuries have coincided with home Tests, but he is not sweating over what transpired in the past."We've got a nice lead-in this time. We've got Test matches abroad, so hopefully we hit the ground running again in Australia," he said."I've been lucky enough to play 70-odd Test matches now, which is quite a lot in terms of Aussie quicks. Hopefully I can tick a few more off."AAP