Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood ruled out of opening Test against South Africa

Australia will be without a key bowler Josh Hazlewood for the opening Test against South Africa in Brisbane as Men in Yellow revealed a 14player squad for the opening game of the series against the Proteas Cricket Australia CA announced on MondayThe veteran pacer Hazlewood is still dealing with a side strain and is out of the match starting on Saturday at The Gabba but the teams selectors are optimistic that captain Pat Cummins will recover from his quad injury and be cleared to playHazlewood and Cummins were absent from Australias convincing 419run victory over the West Indies in Adelaide but other pacers Michael Neser and Scott Boland filled in wellGeorge Bailey the chief selector claims that Cummins is close to making a comeback but Hazlewood is still having difficulty recovering from a side ailmentPat continues to improve bowled with freedom on Saturday and appears likely to play this match although Josh will need more time With that in mind we have retained Michael Neser and Lance Morris in the squad for this match Michael bowled superbly in Adelaide as did Scott We were impressed as always with their performances that backed up what they have achieved in the past George Bailey said in a statement released by CAAlso readPat Cummins ruled out of Adelaide Test against West Indies Steve Smith to captainLance is a very exciting prospect who will benefit from time with the squad With so much cricket ahead we continue to seek opportunities to grow and maintain our fastbowling experience and depth Bailey further addedIn their quest to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship final at The Oval next year both nations view the threematch series against South Africa as importantAustralia increased their lead at the top of the World Test Championship standings with a convincing 20 series sweep of the West Indies while South Africa maintained the second positionAustralia squad for first Test v South Africa Pat Cummins c 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 WarnerThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever