Pat Cummins to play no further part in the Ashes after Adelaide while also throwing his T20 WC plans in doubt.
Ashes over for Pat Cummins, uncertainty over T20 World Cup too.
Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, won’t play in the Ashes again, and selectors and medical staff aren’t ready to take any chances with his long-term health, so it’s unclear if he will be available for the T20 World Cup in February.
As Cummins had indicated following Adelaide, it was confirmed that he will miss the MCG Boxing Day Test when Australia’s team was announced on Tuesday morning. Head coach Andrew McDonald revealed a few hours later that Cummins’ series was over after one appearance, which helped seal the Ashes.
After the West Indies tour, Cummins was diagnosed with a lumbar stress response. However, after a rigorous rehabilitation program, he bowled wonderfully in Adelaide, taking six wickets as Australia triumphed by 82 runs.
“He’s pulled up fine,” McDonald said. “He won’t play any part in the rest of the series and that was a discussion that we had a long time out around his return.
“We were taking on some risk and people that reported on that would understand the risk associated with that rebuild. We’ve now won the series and that was the goal. So, to position him for further risk and jeopardise him long-term is not something that we want to do and Pat’s really comfortable with that.”
“If he had any setback in the build as well, we would have shut him down straight away,” he said. “Everything went really smoothly and full credit to him [and] the medical team. To navigate through that risk profile to get him back and take six wickets in that game and nail the Ashes series was incredibly pleasing for everyone associated with that.”
McDonald said it will be discussed later on Tuesday with the other selectors over the T20 World Cup squad, which is scheduled to be announced shortly. He also mentioned that additional medical advice regarding Cummins’ participation would be sought.
Since the last World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA in the middle of 2024, Cummins has not participated in a Twenty20 International for Australia. Cummins is expected to skipper Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2026, which will start shortly after the next edition in India and Sri Lanka.
“That’ll be an assessment,” McDonald said of Cummins’ T20 World Cup chances. “I’m assuming he’ll have a check-in scan at some point and gather more information around where his back is at… looking forward to the World Cup, whether he’ll be there or not. I can’t really say. It’s quite grey at the moment. We’re hopeful.”