Australia captain Pat Cummins has acknowledged he may need to be “aggressive” with his recovery from a back injury to ensure he’s fit for the upcoming Ashes series.
The fast bowler has been sidelined from the white-ball series against New Zealand and India due to lumbar bone stress, but selectors remain optimistic he will lead Australia in the Ashes opener in Perth on November 21.
Determined to Avoid Watching From the Sidelines
Cummins, speaking publicly for the first time since his injury update, admitted missing the Ashes would be heartbreaking.
“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕,” 𝑪𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒆. “𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓, 𝒔𝒐 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏.”
Despite the setback, Cummins is confident he can prepare without playing warm-up matches, relying on his experience and conditioning.
Confident in Recovery Process
The injury flared up after Australia’s 3-0 Test sweep over West Indies in July, where Cummins bowled just 60 overs. Following further scans, he has been advised to rest and manage his workload carefully.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰’𝒎 𝒐𝒃𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏. 𝑾𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 — 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 12 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 — 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕.”
Currently limited to gym work, Cummins expects to ramp up bowling closer to the summer.
Backup Options in Place
If Cummins fails to regain full fitness, Australia has several options. Scott Boland is the frontrunner after a memorable hat-trick against West Indies, while Michael Neser, Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, and Jhye Richardson are also waiting in the wings.
Cummins praised the team’s depth and remained hopeful he will join the attack alongside Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon when the Ashes begin.
Also Read: Irfan Pathan Questions Bumrah’s Workload Management
