Pat Cummins, captain of the Australian cricket team, has shared that it is not very likely he will play in the first Ashes Test against England. The first match of the popular cricket series is set to begin on November 21, 2025, in Perth. Cummins has been recovering from a back injury that was first found in early September. Since then, he has not been able to bowl. His last match was Australia’s Test series in the Caribbean back in July.
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| Image Source: The Hindu |
Speaking at a cricket event in Sydney, Cummins explained how his recovery has been slow but steady. He only recently started running again. At the moment, he is running every second day and increasing the time as he recovers. He hopes to start practicing bowling next week, but he is still a couple of weeks away from bowling on turf.
According to Cummins, a fast bowler needs at least four weeks of bowling in the nets to be ready for a Test match. This amount of practice is needed to make sure the bowler can manage long spells during a game, sometimes up to 20 overs in one day. He said that preparing in less than four weeks would be a tight schedule, but that is what he might have to do.
Cummins also talked about how his injury made him feel. He said that some days he feels annoyed because missing the Ashes is a big disappointment, but other days he feels realistic and understands that injuries are a part of sports. He mentioned that he has managed to play almost every home season for the last seven or eight years without getting injured.
He feels he has been lucky, and sometimes it just happens that a player needs to rest due to injuries. He also pointed out that other players, like Josh Hazlewood, have had more bad luck with injuries in the past.
Since his injury, Cummins has been taking steps to be careful with his recovery. He started with light running and will slowly include special gym work that helps reactivate the muscles used for bowling. This is an important part of returning to the game safely. He said the injury did make his back feel stiff, but now the worst of the symptoms are gone. Cummins is focusing on making sure his body recovers well and can handle a good workload when he is ready.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald said that a final decision about Cummins playing in the first Test would come soon, after the captain does more running and gym training. The coach is still hopeful that Cummins will play at least some matches in the Ashes series, even if he cannot play in the first one. However, Cummins did not want to say exactly how many matches he could play until he gets closer to the series and the team can see how his body responds to the training.
Cummins said it is not easy to go straight from no bowling to playing five big Test matches in a row. He prefers to take the right steps and only return when his body is ready. He also spoke about the timing of his injury and said that players sometimes have to accept such setbacks in their careers. Although he wishes he could have played in recent matches against India, he knows that being injured is part of being a cricketer.
Cummins does not expect this back injury to trouble him in the long run. The same injury happened to him many years ago, but he has played a lot of cricket since then without problems. This experience makes him feel more confident now. As Australia has many major cricket series coming up in 2026 and 2027, Cummins is positive about playing as much, if not more, than he did before the injury. He believes that, if the recovery goes well, he will have no reason to worry in the future.