Hazlewood backs Ponting's call for big-bat ban  

Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has given his support to Ricky Ponting's suggestion of banning thick, lightweight bats from Test cricket.

At a recent Australian Cricket Society function, Ponting expressed his concern at the imbalance between bat and ball in the longer form of the game, and argued in favour of greater regulation of bat size.

The laws of cricket only limit the length and width of a bat, not its depth or weight, and Ponting said bats with extremely thick edges should be heavy and therefore harder to wield. He said the matter would be discussed at next week's meeting of the MCC World Cricket Committee, and Hazlewood said he would have no problem with banning thick, light bats.

"I'm all for it," Hazlewood told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday. "Some of those cricket bats going around the dressing sheds at the moment are unbelievably big. Obviously David Warner, and Usman Khawaja has got a few big ones as well. I'm all for it.

"I think it's just the weight, as Punter has mentioned. You think it's going to be so heavy, this big bat, but it picks up as light as any of the other bats. It's just ridiculous."

However, Ponting said any change in regulations should apply only to the long form of the game, and batsmen should still be able to use the thick, lightweight bats in one-day and Twenty20 cricket.

"I think he's made a good point about just in Test matches," Hazlewood said. "One-day cricket [is] a little bit different, I think the crowds come to see the fours and sixes and big hits. But in Test cricket, definitely I think he's made a pretty good point."

Hazlewood has been enjoying a rare few days at home in Sydney this week after returning from Australia's victorious ODI tri-series campaign in the West Indies. He flies out this weekend for Australia's tour of Sri Lanka, which begins with a three-Test series, their first in the country since 2011.

Opening batsman Joe Burns, second spinner Steve O'Keefe, wicketkeeper Peter Nevill and fast bowler Jackson Bird have already flown to Asia to begin preparing for the series at a training camp in India. Only three members of Australia's Test squad - Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh and Khawaja - have played a Test in Sri Lanka.

"I think a couple of wickets are going to be quite tough, quite hard work for the quicks, Colombo especially doesn't offer too much for the quicks," Hazlewood said. "But I think up in Kandy it could suit us and we could get a little bit of seam.

"The spinners are going to be the key to take the majority of the wickets if conditions do suit spin. But I think the quicks, if we can get some reverse swing, I think we could really take wickets towards the end when that ball does start to reverse."