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Tickled pink: Josh swayed by tailor-made Adelaide

Fast bowler relishing return to his favourite Test venue in Australia for second Domain Test against Pakistan

Josh Hazlewood is itching to get the sometimes-maligned pink ball in hand as buoyant Australia prepare to return to the day-night format in the hunt for a Domain Test series clean sweep over Pakistan.

But Hazlewood is even more excited about the prospect of bowling at Adelaide Oval, once considered a graveyard for fast bowlers, but which he and his fellow Australia quicks now consider the premier pace pitch in the country.

Hazlewood carries good reason to relish the return to day-night Test cricket, a format he last experienced during Australia's successful home Ashes summer of 2017-18.

The 28-year-old, who will play his 50th Test in Adelaide if (as expected) he retains his place in the starting XI, boasts a record second-only to his Australia and New South Wales teammate Mitchell Starc in pink ball Test matches despite having played one less game.

Hazlewood's 21 wickets at 22.43 from four day-night Tests represents a formidable partnership with Starc (26 wickets at 23 from five matches) when armed with the pink ball, while Pakistan leg spinner Yasir Shah is third-most successful with 18 wickets at 35.50 from three day-night outings.

During the first Test against Pakistan at the Gabba, which he finished with 6-109 from 41 overs across two innings, Hazlewood admitted he and his fellow NSW quicks had initially struggled to make the adjustment from a slow, benign Sheffield Shield pitch in Sydney a week or so earlier to the Test strip in Brisbane.

However, he did not envisage a challenge in adapting to the optimum bowling lengths required with the pink ball because they were not markedly different to the areas he and his pace bowling colleagues quickly and effectively found during Australia's win by an innings and five runs at the Gabba.

Hazlewood leads way as Aussies wrap up innings win

"Pink ball in Adelaide is a pretty similar length to red ball here," Hazlewood said in the wake of Australia's thumping win.

"You want to get it quite full.

"The pink ball does swing for probably a bit longer, and if you've got a new one at night we know what can happen.

"I missed the one last year against Sri Lanka (in Brisbane, due to a back injury), so I am looking forward to getting back bowling with the pink one."

As well as re-acquainting himself with the pink Kookaburra ball, Hazlewood is enthused about the opportunity to bowl in Adelaide where ground staff are widely regarded as having perfected the pitch conditions most suitable for the day-night format.

But Hazlewood, who earlier this month claimed career-best first-class figures of 6-35 in the second innings of a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia at the venue, goes further to claim the drop-in pitch at Adelaide Oval is the foremost cricket wicket in Australia.

While the Gabba retains its traditional bounce, it is also a hot and humid workplace where bowlers pay a physical price for running up the slight incline that leads from both ends to the wicket block.

Pitches at the SCG and MCG have proved increasingly benign in recent summers making them more back-breaking to bowl upon, and Test cricket has shifted from the fast-bowler friendly WACA Ground to the newly commissioned Perth Stadium where the pitch is slowly developing its own character.

As a result, Hazlewood claims Adelaide – which hosted six consecutive drawn Tests during its nadir as a bowlers' nightmare in the late 1980s – is now a venue of choice for his Australia bowling colleagues, both pace and spin.

Image Id: 7817875B7F8247FDBA941B5225B41AE0 Image Caption: Adelaide under lights during the 2017 Ashes day-night Test // Getty

"I love Adelaide the most I think," he said when asked to nominate his preferred Test ground in Australia.

"I have had good success there – often it is a pink ball game now, but we played red-ball last year and it still did a bit for most the game.

"It keeps you interested when the ball is a bit older and the wicket is a bit flatter, there is still a little bit there for you throughout the day.

"And it is a new-ball wicket, so I think it's an even contest between bat and ball.

"Everyone would have their own favourites, but I think that (Adelaide) is one that sticks out.

"Nath (spinner Nathan Lyon) loves bowling there as well; there is spin there for most of the game.

"I think it's just a great all-round wicket to be honest."

After the all-NSW attack laid waste to Pakistan's batting at the Gabba, Hazlewood indicated that "ideally" the three fast bowlers – himself, Starc and Pat Cummins – would play all five Domain Series Tests this summer, with three matches against New Zealand to follow the Adelaide Test.

However, he also noted the attrition rate among pacemen - especially on hard Australian pitches and with the heavy workload that looms -makes that a tough assignment, which is why auxiliary quicks James Pattinson and Michael Neser are part of the current 14-man Test squad.

Watch all 10 Pakistan wickets from Gabba second-innings

The management of fast-bowling stocks was a crucial part of Australia's recent Ashes campaign in England, where Hazlewood missed the series opener and Starc was restricted to a solitary Test with Cummins, Pattinson and Peter Siddle preferred,

But so tight is the bond forged between the Blues' quicks, and off-spinner Lyon to whom Hazlewood has become a trusted on-field confidante, the incumbent group are keen to get through the Australia season intact, a feat they successfully managed during last summer's four-Test series against India.

"Being a fast bowler, you can never look too far ahead," Hazlewood said.

"It's quite tough, the summer in Australia with the wickets seeming a lot harder than England and other places.

"They do take their toll, but ideally you want to keep the same bowling group together, the same as the top six (batters).

"Guys get confidence, they relax when they know they are not on their last chance (as batters).

"We are certainly no different."

Domain Test Series v Pakistan

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali (c), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Snr, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah.

First Test: Australia won by an innings and five runs.

Second Test: November 29 – December 3, Adelaide (d/n) (Seven, Fox & Kayo)