Bowling with the consistency we’ve come to associate with him, Hazlewood persisted with the channel outside off stump and was rewarded with three big wickets. In a display of top-notch seam bowling, he removed Jason Roy, Joe Root and Joe Denly within the first 32 overs of day two of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s on Thursday, August 15.

Nathan Lyon, the Australia spinner, was full of praise for his colleague, hailing him as one of the best in red-ball cricket. “I think Josh has been a world-class bowler for a long period of time and I don’t think he’s got the rewards that he’s deserved as yet,” Lyon said.

“I think they’re to come. In my eyes, Josh is up in the top three best bowlers in Test cricket … his control of hitting that nagging length but having the skill to go both ways in and out. Then he’s got a pretty strong bouncer as well and it’s always usually on the money.

When asked if he could hold his own against Archer’s pace, Lyon was realistic. “Mate, I can’t bat – what do you reckon?” he said. “I can’t bat, I’m a No.10, No.11 batter and I average 10.

“They’ve got a world-class bowling attack. It’s Jofra’s first Test, but he’s a world-class bowler, we all know that.
“You know that, the whole world knows that. [Stuart] Broad – same thing.

“Of course it’s going to be challenging, but that’s Test cricket, that’s why we play it. Me, personally, I want to challenge myself against the best players in the world and these guys are the best bowlers in the world.”