Australia pace bowler Josh Hazlewood could be sidelined for the second Ashes Test beginning in Adelaide on December 16 after suffering a side strain in the opening Test at The Gabba, which the hosts won by nine wickets on Saturday.
Australia skipper Pat Cummins said following the massive win on Saturday that the fast bowler, who took three wickets in the Test, underwent a scan on Friday night after he returned a "little bit sore".
"We'll take our time. He had a scan last night (Friday night) so we'll kind of work through that. There's nothing scary enough (in the scan results) but still a little bit just to make us want to manage him a little bit," Cummins was quoted as saying by smh.com.au on Saturday.
"I think we'll wait until he wakes up in the morning (on Sunday). I think a key is we don't want to put him in jeopardy for the whole series. He's a little bit sore. It was good he came out today (on Day 4 of the Test) and had a bowl and got through a really good spell. He's a little bit sore so we're managing him through a five-Test match summer. He's a key for us, don't want to blow him out of the water on day three."
While scans have cleared Hazlewood, he could sit out in the pink-ball Test given the workload the pacers will have to share as the series progresses. Western Australia pacer Jhye Richardson is the prime candidate to seal his Ashes berth in Adelaide.
One of the reasons being attributed for Hazlewood's strain is that he has not played a first-class game since April before the Test, and he has mostly played T20 cricket during this period, first for IPL side Chennai Super Kings and then for Australia during their successful ICC T20 World Cup campaign.