DERBY: Josh Hazlewood is nothing if not a fast learner. For all the peculiarities of Lord's, the slope and all, there was little that could knock him off his bearings. Such was his relentless accuracy, a glance at his pitch map, whenever it was put to air by the broadcaster, revealed a picture that looked something like the flag of Japan. The current one, not the imperial version.

They said this sky-scraping seamer from the bush would find English conditions to his liking and even if the wicket in north London was like one dropped in from India, to paraphrase Stuart Broad, on the evidence so far they were right.  While Mitchell Johnson was handed the majority share of the plaudits for orchestrating the second-innings demolition of England, Hazlewood was also outstanding.

The 24-year-old finished off the 405-run thumping last Sunday afternoon, among the two final wickets the key scalp of Joe Root. It meant nothing for the course of the match - Root at that point was never going to be able to save the game - but for the course of the Ashes campaign Hazlewood hopes the blow he landed from the pavilion end can be a significant one.

"It worked out pretty well how we finished up," Hazlewood said. "One thing we were happy to do was to get Joe Root out at the end rather than him being not out. Maybe that will put a few scars on him for the rest of the series."

That McGrath-like delivery that bowled Root and another from the nursery end that rattled Ian Bell's stumps in the first innings summed up Hazlewood's fine performance. While the Australians are eager to get on top of England's top batsman Root, they believe they have already done so with the woefully out-of-form Bell, who will rise a spot and bat at No.3 at Edgbaston.

"I think so at the moment," said Hazlewood, when asked whether they had the measure of the leading batsman of Australia's last tour here two years ago. "He's obviously had a bit of tough run the last few Tests and against New Zealand as well and hopefully for our sake he stays in that form slump. It's probably only a matter of time before he gets back into touch so while he's down we've got to keep him there."

It is that ruthless philosophy - of not giving away any "freebies" as Hazlewood puts it - that served the Australian bowlers so well at Lord's, having been off their lines and lengths in Cardiff. Not surprisingly it's one they intend to stick to at Edgbaston next week.

"We made sure that whoever came to the crease we didn't let them off with anything easy to get away as soon as they got there," he said. "Mitch [Johnson] obviously led the way but the bowling attack feed off each other really well. Everyone knows what role they play in the attack, and it was great to have Mitchy Marsh on board as well to pick up a few wickets."

As for all the talk about the flat wicket at Lord's, and what the Australians might expect when they reassemble in Birmingham on Saturday night - the fast bowlers having stayed in London this week, skipping the tour match in Derby - Hazlewood doesn't see it quite the way many others have.

"I think as you saw with probably the two Mitchells [Johnson and Starc] in particular bowling at 90mph [145km/h] it doesn't matter what wicket it is on," he said. "It may bring [James] Anderson and Broad back into the contest if the wickets are seaming around. But both Tests so far have only gone four days so you can say they're flat pitches but the bowlers are still taking the wickets."

He added, though: "I think the TV showed the wicket did get quicker but it also kept lower. On day one you don't want to see the ball bouncing twice to the 'keeper but it's happened twice [in this series] now."

Whatever the conditions at Edgbaston, Hazlewood believes the break between the second and third Tests is beneficial to Australia, just as the short gap after the disappointment of Cardiff was the best thing for them at the time.

"I think it helped with the short turnaround after the loss whereas England have had to face an eight or nine-day break to think about it a bit more," he said. "But there is a lot more work to be done. Lord's was only the start of things."