Josh Hazlewood hails career-best form as Australia strike late to hurt England

NICK HOWSON AT OLD TRAFFORD: The seamer finished day three with 4-48 after taking three late scalps to keep the tourists in charge in the fourth Test

Josh Hazlewood believes he is bowling better than ever after taking four wickets as Australia pegged back England's progress on day three of the fourth Test at Old Trafford.

Hazlewood took 4-48 as England closed on 200 for 5, still 297 adrift of Australia's first innings 497 for 8 declared.

Rory Burns (81) and Joe Root (67) put on 141 for the third wicket to frustrate the tourists until Hazlewood returned to strike three times in the final hour of play to turn the game back in his side's favour.

Having missed the World Cup to fully recover from a back injury the 28-year-old believes he is bowling at his very best.

"It is certainly up there," said Hazlewood, who has taken 16 wickets at 16.50 in this series. "Consistently I think, day-in-day-out, through the last two-and-a-half Tests the body feels fresh and really good.

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"Conditions have suited seam bowling, maybe not this wicket as much. I feel like I made some changes after my last injury.

"I did some good work at home (during injury recovery) and I am reaping the benefits now."

Pat Cummins bowled a 10-over spell in the evening session, peppering the English batsman and beating the bat on several occasions, but finished wicketless on day three.

Replacing him from the Brian Statham End, Hazlewood was the main beneficiary of Cummins' levels of endurance and that effort was not lost on his seam partner.

"Patty rarely bowls a bad spell to be honest," he said. "He was fantastic in the evening session. He's always at the batsman, just keeps getting better each time he bowls really. It is good to have him in the team.

"He's a machine really. He had all that bad luck with injury during his late teens and early 20s. He has always been a great athlete so it was always a matter of time until his body hardened up. He is the all-round package. Hopefully, it continues for him."

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