Pat Cummins set to miss Ashes opener, may miss more matches: Report

Australian skipper Pat Cummins could miss the start of the home Ashes series against England and could even end up missing the entire five-match affair after the latest scans revealed that his back stress problem has not healed, reported the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday.

Cummins, who was previously optimistic of taking part in a significant chunk of the series, appears to have no chance of playing the series opener in Perth from November 21 and could even miss all five Tests, leaving superstar batter Steve Smith as his stand-in captain.

According to two sources with knowledge of confidential discussions, but not authorised to speak in public, Cummins underwent an update scan just last week to track his progress and was told that the “hot spot” of the stress was still healing and bowling right now would not be advisable. The update will likely delay his return to play until the last few weeks of the year and make it very challenging for him to speed up in time to participate in a tightly scheduled Ashes series. Cricket Australia has not commented so far.

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The best-case scenario is that he returns towards the series’ back end, and Scott Boland serves as the third pacer alongside Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.

Cummins’s absence could be a major blow to the Aussies’ chances of retaining the prestigious Ashes urn, which they have held since 2018.

England, which last won the Ashes on English soil in 2011, will receive a major boost with this development if it indeed gets confirmed.

“That would be devastating,” Cummins said in Brisbane a month ago when asked if there were a possibility he would miss the start of the Ashes. “We will be doing everything we can to be right for that, and make a few decisions a little bit closer, but I am confident we will do the rehab right and give it a good crack.”

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“This far out, it is hard to know, but we are trying to make sure we are doing everything right to be right for Perth. It is a big Ashes series; it does not get much bigger, so you are willing to be aggressive and take a few risks to try to play as many of the Tests as you can.”

“I have had a really good run as fast bowling goes, and I have been really well looked after, which has got me through this many Tests. I have bowled a lot over the last few years; something was bound to happen at some point, but hopefully, I get this right and do not miss too much cricket,” he concluded.