Worst-kept secret finally out as Pat Cummins ruled out of Perth test as the Australian skipper yet to resume bowling.
Cummins ruled out of first Ashes Test due to back injury as worst-kept secret in Australian cricket is out.
Due to a back ailment, Pat Cummins has been formally ruled out of the first Ashes Test in Perth; however, he will resume bowling this week in an attempt to be fit for the second game in Brisbane.
Australia’s first Test match against England, which starts on November 21, will be captained by Steven Smith. On December 4, the second Test in Brisbane gets underway.
Since it was revealed earlier this month that Cummins had been unable to resume bowling due to a lumbar stress strain that he had been diagnosed with in September after experiencing difficulty following his return from the West Indies tour, his absence had been anticipated.
“We’ve run out of time,” head coach Andrew McDonald told reporters in Canberra. “We sort of flagged this a week or so ago that it would take sort of four plus weeks to get him up and running and we’ve run out of time, unfortunately, but really optimistic and hopeful for the second Test match.
“So I suppose the next question is what’s the time frame? What does it look like for the second Test? Not really going to be able to answer that other than to say that he’ll be back bowling this week and that’s a huge step. That was the big variable that we wanted to add in and get that information. So we’re on the journey to that second Test and very hopeful that that will be a positive outcome.”
“[We’ll] see how he pulls up and then we’ll make decisions moving forward,” McDonald said. “I know that sounds really boring and everyone wants a time frame and what’s the risk associated with it. There’s better people than I to speculate on what that is.
“With the nature of this injury, it’s never going to be a clear time frame and I think that’s what everyone here today wants is a time frame to say, this is definitely what will happen. We’re not in a position to do that and I’d never put the medical team under that sort of duress either.”
As Cummins’ understudy since 2021, Smith has captained Australia six times, winning five of those games, including one in Adelaide during the 2021–22 Ashes while Cummins was a close contact for Covid.
Scott Boland, who claimed a hat-trick in the team’s most recent match in the West Indies, is expected to retain his position in Australia’s attack due to Cummins’ absence for the opening Test.
Following Tuesday’s start of the third round of Sheffield Shield matches, Australia’s first Test team is scheduled to be announced the following week. Even if Cummins is unable to play, he will still travel with the team.