"It'd be great to lose a few overs here and there, and make our job a little easier" - Hazlewood hopes for rain to make a lasting impact in 4th Test 

Josh Hazlewood is right alongside Australian fans who are hoping for rain to make a defining appearance across the last two days of the fourth Ashes Test in Manchester. The visitors are completely on the backfoot at Stumps on Day 3, having conceded a mammoth deficit at the end of the first innings.

England amassed 592 runs on the back of Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow's heroics to finish with a 275-run lead. In response, Australia have been rattled by Mark Wood once again in their second innings and finished the day on 113-4, still trailing by 162 runs.

England are very much in the driver's seat and Australia either need a miracle through their batters or the weather gods to hold onto their series lead ahead of the finale at The Oval.

Admitting that the arrival of the projected rain would help Australia a lot, Hazlewood said during the post-match press conference:

"It's obviously forecast but forecasts can change all the time. Obviously, rain and light plays a big part in cricket and has done forever. So, yeah, it'd be great to lose a few overs here and there, and make our job a little easier if I'm hanging in there."

The forecast shows heavy rain, particularly on Saturday (Day 4). However, England will have their tails up considering that they are effectively only six wickets away from leveling the Ashes from a 2-0 deficit.

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"There times we potentially could just bowl away from him the whole time" - Josh Hazlewood on bowling tactics against Jonny Bairstow

The Australian bowlers endured a tough time on the field after conceding 592 runs in just 107.4 overs. After a brutal Day 2 following Zak Crawley's heroics, the Aussies fought back with wickets and reduced England down to 474-6, but Jonny Bairstow prolonged the lead with a brilliant innings.

The England wicketkeeper scored an unbeaten 99 off just 81 deliveries, leaving the opposition bowlers dazed and confused. Towards the end of the innings, which saw a 66-run partnership between James Anderson and Bairstow, the Aussie pacers, including Hazlewood, attempted to bowl wide, not letting him score in his favored leg-side arc.

Admitting that they could have employed that approach a lot sooner, Hazlewood said:

Do you just bowl wide and down leg and really stop him from scoring? Or do you try and roll the dice and bounce him and try and get a wicket that way, or keep bowling hard length and hopefully one goes up the chute? But there times we potentially could just bowl away from him the whole time."

Hazlewood continued:

"We saw probably a new tactic again today of running on bouncers or running through to the keeper. It's just trying to limit his scoring and [trying] different things to try with two balls left, one ball left, keeping the tailender on strike for next over and things like that, so I thought we did reasonably well."

Australia hold a narrow 2-1 lead in the 2023 Ashes series, but if they lose the ongoing fourth Test, then it will be all to play for in the final contest at The Oval.