300 and Counting: Josh Hazlewood Joins Australia’s Greats on a Day Bangladesh Refuse to Go Away

Josh Hazlewood has never needed much theatre. No extravagant run-up. No great contortions at the crease. No obsession with making the speed gun flash. He runs in. Hits the seam. Hits the length. And does it again. And again. And again.

On Saturday in Darwin, one of Australian cricket's great exercises in repetition finally arrived at a very large number: 300. Hazlewood dismissed Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 65 to become only the ninth Australian bowler to take 300 Test wickets, joining a club populated by some of the country's greatest bowlers.

He wasn't finished. Hazlewood removed Taskin Ahmed to wrap up Bangladesh's innings for 426 and complete a six-wicket haul. A magnificent personal milestone. There was just one problem. Bangladesh led by 228.

How did Hazlewood get to 300?

In a manner entirely appropriate to his career. Mehidy had become a serious irritation for Australia, batting deep into the third morning and helping Bangladesh stretch an already imposing advantage. Hazlewood finally got him with a ball outside off that moved away sufficiently to induce the edge through to wicketkeeper Alex Carey. Wicket No. 300. It also gave Hazlewood the 14th five-wicket haul of his Test career. He then added a sixth as Bangladesh were finally dismissed after 138 overs.

There is something wonderfully Hazlewood about the milestone. For much of a career spent alongside more visually explosive fast bowlers, his great weapon has been relentlessness. Give him a corridor outside off stump and he can spend an afternoon living there.

How elite is 300?

Very. Hazlewood is just the ninth Australian to reach the landmark. And the numbers underneath the headline make his achievement look even better. Among Australia's nine 300-wicket Test bowlers, ESPNcricinfo noted that only Glenn McGrath, Pat Cummins and Dennis Lillee reached the landmark while maintaining better bowling averages than Hazlewood. That is rare company. And McGrath is an especially tempting comparison.

Hazlewood has long been associated with the classical Australian school of fast bowling: tall, economical, relentless around off stump and capable of making tiny deviations do enormous damage. He doesn't have to destroy a batting order in ten balls. He can suffocate it for ten overs.

And Australia now have a ridiculous 300 club. Here is perhaps the most extraordinary number. Hazlewood joins Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins as current Australian bowlers with at least 300 Test wickets. That means Australia's attack in Darwin contains four 300-wicket Test bowlers. Reuters had noted before the Test that Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon were being reunited as an attack for the first time in more than a year, with Hazlewood returning after Achilles and hamstring problems. Between them sits an absurd amount of experience.

Yet Bangladesh have spent much of this Test refusing to be intimidated by any of it. Which makes the timing wonderfully awkward Australia won the toss in Darwin. They were bowled out for 198. Hasan Mahmud took six wickets. Then Bangladesh, playing their first Test series in Australia since 2003, responded with 426. Tanzid Hasan made a historic 101, becoming the first Bangladeshi to score a Test century in Australia. Najmul Hossain Shanto made 84. Mehidy stretched the innings with 65.

Australia helped too

Dropped catches repeatedly allowed Bangladesh to escape, a problem that continued into the third morning. So, Hazlewood's milestone arrived amid an unusual sight. One of the most experienced bowling attacks Australia has ever assembled was being made to toil at home by Bangladesh.

There is another reason 300 matters. Hazlewood had entered this Test on 295 wickets after injury problems kept him out of Australia's Ashes campaign. His place against Bangladesh wasn't entirely automatic either. Captain Pat Cummins acknowledged before the match that choosing between Hazlewood and Scott Boland had been a tight call. Three days later, Hazlewood had a six-for and membership of the 300 club. It is a reminder of just how much cricket his understated style can make you forget. Hazlewood has been around Australia's Test side for more than a decade, sharing attacks with Starc, Cummins and Lyon and quietly accumulating wickets without always attracting the mythology that surrounds great fast bowlers.

Now there is a number that cannot be understated. 300 Test wickets. Only eight Australians got there before him. And Hazlewood reached it exactly as you would expect. Ball in the corridor. Edge. Gone. Then back to his mark. Because Bangladesh still needed getting out.

(With inputs from ANI)