Pat Cummins’ Ashes build-up has been disrupted after scans revealed lumbar bone stress in his lower back. The injury rules him out of Australia’s upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand and India, leaving doubts about his match practice before the first Ashes Test on November 21 in Perth.
“𝑭𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕,” 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑪𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅-𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔.”
Recovery Timeline and Captaincy Concerns
Although Cummins has avoided a stress fracture, the 11-week window for recovery leaves limited opportunities for competitive cricket before the Ashes. He may only feature in a domestic one-day game on November 3 if his back settles.
If Cummins misses Tests, Steven Smith is expected to captain, with Travis Head remaining as vice-captain.
“He has experienced ongoing lower back pain following the West Indies Test tour,” CA’s statement added.
Australia may also rely on bowlers like Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc, with workload management becoming critical.
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