Josh Hazlewood given the all-clear from fitness concerns however Abbott out of Test

Josh Hazlewood has been cleared to join the Aussie lineup for the initial Test against England following fitness concerns, however, teammate Sean Abbott has been ruled out

The two experienced hamstring injuries during their match for NSW in the Victoria clash in the Sheffield Shield recently

Tests indicated Hazlewood (34) avoided muscle damage. Abbott, 33, who hasn't played Tests, suffered a significant hamstring issue

Captain Pat Cummins is unavailable for the first Test, commencing later this month, so the loss of another experienced fast bowler such as Hazlewood could have proven a significant setback

The bowler stood not expected to participate during the Western Australia Test, with Hazlewood set to join Starc and Boland as the primary pace attack

Cummins, who is recovering from spinal concerns, is thought to be on track to return during the next Test in Brisbane starting on 4 December

Batsman Steve Smith will captain the side in Cummins' absence

Similar to most the Australia players, Hazlewood is involved in the current round of state games in preparation for the Ashes

Until this match, he hadn't featured red-ball cricket representing NSW since last season

He experienced stiffness in his posterior chain during the final stages of Victoria's second innings recently exiting the play for safety reasons

Neither Hazlewood nor Abbott came out to bat during their team's second batting effort as they lost by three hundred runs

"There's seven days from the Test series - typically prefer the side of caution," stated the captain

"They wanted to find out the nature of the problem prior to testing it and potentially making anything worse"

"It's rare to get him upbeat, making it encouraging observing his positive demeanor"

"He knows his body extremely well. He appeared slightly anxious (and desired professional evaluation"

Abbott earned 57 international selections with the national team in white-ball cricket

Without Test experience Doggett represents additional pace options among the selections, acting as backup for the main pace trio