Long Shield prep suits batters: Hazlewood

Australia paceman Josh Hazlewood hopes his country's aspiring Test batsmen can relax knowing they've got five full rounds of the JLT Sheffield Shield to push their case for national selection next summer.

One of the significant changes to the domestic schedule released by Cricket Australia last week was that five rounds of the first-class season will take place before the first Test of the summer, against India in Adelaide from December 6.

Last summer, three rounds of Shield cricket were scheduled before the first Ashes Test and proved instrumental to players like Cameron Bancroft and Shaun Marsh, who both won spots for the opening match against England through strong first-class performances.

While two rounds overlap with the Gillette limited-overs series against Sri Lanka (three ODIs and one T20I between November 4-17), it means those red-ball specialists aiming for Test call-ups could have 10 innings to bolster their resumes for international selection.

Hazlewood, who is unlikely to feature in all five Shield matches due to national duties and the forensic workload preservation of Australia's fast bowlers, hopes the "brilliant" scheduling will take some of the pressure off the batsmen looking to impress.

"Hopefully they (aspiring batsmen) can relax a bit knowing they could potentially have 10 hits rather than one or two Shield games and then the selectors pick the team," Hazlewood told cricket.com.au at a photoshoot with CA's new Test series partner, Domain.

"Hopefully they can relax and hopefully that brings out their best cricket and a few young guys put their hand up.

"It will give the batters a good chance to get a lot of match practice under their belts. You can train in the nets as much as you like but if you're getting that match practice, five games is a lot.

"We had three games before the Ashes last year and I unfortunately could only play one.

"It gave the batters a decent hit-out and even the bowlers, to get that match practice, it hardens your body up. You can come off bowling in the nets but it's not quite the same.

"To get that hardened body over a couple of Shield games before the first Test is brilliant."

Another feature of Shield season fixture is the scheduling of a match between Western Australia and New South Wales at Perth Stadium, which hosts its first Test when India and Australia lock horns from December 14.

Hazlewood played in the venue's first ODI last summer and hopes the new wicket emulates the WACA Ground of old, which was renowned for being the world's fastest pitch.

"The one-day was quite a quick and bouncy wicket," he said. "There were quite a few cracks in there so it will be interesting to see how that goes over four days.

"I don't think there's been too many long-form games there yet.

"It will be ideal to play there before the Test, to see how it deteriorates over four or five days. It will give us a good heads up as to what to expect in the Test.

"The ODI wicket was probably a bit inconsistent when we first played on there but watching the Big Bash the following weeks, the wicket quickened up and was more consistently quick.

"That's what you want to have in Perth.

"We saw that at the WACA from time to time and it hadn't been as quick as we what we would've liked the last few years.

"But when you're playing a Team like India you want that extra bounce."

Hazlewood is expecting a fierce contest from Virat Kohli's side, who will be looking to be the first Indian team to win a Test series on Australian soil.

Australia will be without the services of suspended batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner, but Hazlewood, who made his Test debut against India four years ago, takes confidence from Australia's strong record at home and how far they pushed the Indians in the subcontinent in last year.

India won the series 2-1, and while Australia had chances in the second and fourth Tests to put the game out of reach, the class of the hosts saw them regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

"It's going to be a tough series, as it always is against India," Hazlewood said.

"We've got the wood on them here in Australia but they probably think this is their best chance of upsetting us.

"We're going to be a few senior batsmen short heading into this series and they probably sense a bit of a weakness and (will) try to make the most of that.

"We're pretty confident here at home.

"We put it up to them in India and we had chances to take the series but eventually lost it 2-1.

"Hopefully we get back on top of them here."