A beautiful grind: Aussie 'big four' relishing the tough stuff

"Grind is the word."

That was Josh Hazlewood's summation of a day where he completed his best Test figures, 6-49, and Australia sealed one of their finest overseas victories in recent memory by 214 runs over South Africa at Kingsmead.  

No superlatives, no embellishment. But very fitting.

The Australians toiled for one hour and 50 minutes on the final day in the Durban heat before the first breakthrough came. And it was Hazlewood who ended the Aiden Markram-Wiaan Mulder partnership, which lasted 205 balls and almost the entire first session.

In admiring his endless work ethic, captain Pat Cummins made the case that despite having taken 311 Test wickets – eighth place all time for Australia – he remains underrated.

"Joshy's a superstar. He obviously gets spoken about a lot about his consistency but I think that undersells him and what he does," Cummins said.

"He's really skilful with the new ball but once you get a reversing ball, he's just as skilful and can swing it both ways.

"One thing I've always loved about 'Joshy' and 'Starcy' (Mitchell Starc) is they're just so happy getting into the grind. They'll never shy away from having a bowl.

"It's not always the case with Test players, whereas (for them) whatever the team needs, they'll just roll up their sleeves and go to work. (They're) a captain's dream."

And the grind is going to be something Hazlewood and the Australian quicks are going to have to embrace, with a gruelling fixture of five-day cricket to come.  

The Aussies have two more matches to come against South Africa, four at home against New Zealand, five in India and the 150th anniversary Test in Melbourne all in the next five months. Add on a potential World Test Championship final and five Ashes Tests from June.

Thankfully Hazlewood, and the Australian bowlers, are pretty good at the grind. For example, an older, softer ball hasn't proven to be a handicap for them. Since the start of 2024, the Aussies have the lowest bowling average (22.63) with the old ball (overs 40 to 80) of all Test-playing nations.

The 35-year-old Hazlewood wants to play as many of those 18 Tests as possible. He told the Unplayable Podcast in August that if he's fully fit, he expects to play, even with several tight turnarounds to come.  

It's understandable too, because since the start of the 2012-22 Ashes series, he's missed more Tests (27) than he's played (24). He missed all five of last summer's Ashes Tests due to hamstring and Achilles injuries and went almost a year between appearances for Australia across all formats.

As he slowly progressed through his rehabilitation last summer, he rarely switched on the Ashes, watching in no more than "10-minute blocks". He wanted to see his teammates do well, but he didn't necessarily want to watch it. "Lengthy" and "lonely" was how he described his rehab. A grind.

But all the hours in the gym, in the pool, on the massage table and in the doctors' office, and all the planning, all the net sessions, all the fitness work has been worth it.

Since returning to the XI three Tests ago Hazlewood has already claimed two six-wicket hauls (his other was 6-89 against Bangladesh in Darwin).

And therein lies an impressive trend: when fit and playing, his stats are the best in the world.

Hazlewood has claimed 73 wickets at the stunning average of 15.52 since the start of the 2023-24 summer. No other bowler has as many wickets at a lower average in that period.

In the fourth innings (through that same three-year span) his numbers drop even further: 22 wickets at 12.04. Nobody is more effective when the game is there to be won.

Six of those final-innings scalps came as the Aussies hunted victory in Durban, which he celebrated with an uncharacteristic level of animation.

Nathan Lyon, Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood began the Test each with more than 300 Test wickets to their name.

They ended it as the only quartet to have reached 600 wickets in matches played together.

And Cummins hinted after the win that the group might have begun contemplating their cricketing morality, given that the four are aged 33-38 and have been playing Tests together for almost nine years.

"It's knowing it's not going to happen forever and relish it while it's happening," Cummins said on Tuesday.

"This week has felt a bit more like the old Test cricket, I reckon. It's a bit more of a grind.

"Felt like it was going to go five days, the four of us playing. 

"Particularly Joshy, just seeing him getting consistent games back into him, he didn't really get that chance for a few years."

Cummins mentioned the word 'grind' five times in his post-match press conference. Whether by accident or by design, it was the catchphrase the Aussies continued to spout in the afterglow of the series-opening victory.

Qantas tour of South Africa 2026

All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket

First Test: Australia won by 214 runs

Second Test: October 18-22, St George's Park, Gqeberha, 7pm AEDT (10am local)

Third Test: October 27-31, Newlands, Cape Town, 7:30pm AEDT (10:30am local)

South Africa's first Test squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Sam Harper, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (second Test onwards), Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nic Maddinson, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster