He's got extra pace, ability to swing it away, says Taylor on Richardson

ADELAIDE: Former Australia captain Mark Taylor believes that young pacer Jhye Richardson's extra pace and ability to swing the ball away from batters should be enough for him to replace an injured Josh Hazlewood in Australias playing eleven for the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval.

Hazlewood was officially ruled out of the second Ashes Test after suffering a side strain during the nine-wicket victory over England in the first Test at the Gabba in four days. Richardson, who played two Tests in 2019, has been touted as the front-runner to replace Hazlewood though he faces tough competition from Queensland pacer Michael Neser, someone who has been named as Australia's 12th man in Test cricket on many occasions.

"It seems to me Australia are looking for that little bit more pace, and that's probably not a bad thing. If you look at England they're used to guys who bowl around 125-130km/h, but they seem to struggle a little bit more with the guys who have got a bit more in them. A bit of extra pace, he's got the ability to swing it away, and if he (Richardson) can make England play he could be a handful with the pink ball," said Taylor on Outside The Rope show on Wide World of Sports.

Taylor further said that Richardson's economy rate is better than Neser's, something which Australia might be looking at for filling the vacant spot left by Hazlewood. "Australia will be looking for almost a like-for-like replacement. Josh Hazlewood gives Pat Cummins the captain a lot of control. He bowls a great line and length. Very rarely do you see Josh Hazlewood go for anything more than about three runs per over, and sometimes less than two." IANS

Also Read: PM Modi, Rahul, Rakhi Sawant feature in vax data in Bihar

Also Watch: