File photo of Josh Hazlewood.© AFP
Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood‘s manager Neil Maxwell has lashed out at the nation’s media for blowing the player’s comment out of proportion. He also blasted Fox Cricket, the official broadcaster in Australia for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Hazlewood found himself in the middle of a controversy due to his comments during Australia’s Perth Test against India last month. In a press conference at the end of play on Day 3 of the match, Hazlewood was asked about how Australia would approach day four. His response to the query was, “You probably have to ask one of the batters that question. I’m sort of relaxing and trying to get a bit of physio and a bit of treatment, and I’m probably looking mostly towards the next Test and what plans we can do against these batters.”
“I guess the batters are just sticking to what they do, their preparation. They’ll have a hit in the morning and talk around plans of what happened in the first innings, how they can negate that and move forward and improve on that,” he added.
At the end of Day 3 in the Perth Test, Australia were 12 for 3 in their chase of 534 runs. They were eventually bundled out for 238 and India went on to win the game by 295 runs.
The comments from Hazlewood gave rise to speculations of a potential rift in the dressing room.
“It’s taken so out of context and in a negative light,” Maxwell told The Sydney Morning Herald. “You’ve never seen a closer bunch of players than the players in the last two years of Australian cricket.
“To draw that assumption from a comment from a No.11 batter saying, ‘You better ask one of the batters’ is so ridiculous. They lose complete and utter credibility.”
“There’s a desperation to create controversy when you’ve got 40. cricket media are all trying to get a daily story. I just think there’s no incentive for players to provide any color in response,” he added.
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