Australia’s Ashes tour has been dealt a massive blow with captain Pat Cummins now in genuine risk of sitting out the whole five-Test series against England. Recent scans, reports The Sydney Morning Herald, have indicated that the stress fracture injury in Cummins’ back that he is carrying has not healed enough, leaving him in doubt for the series.
The 32-year-old bowling pace spearhead went for a follow-up scan a week ago to assess how his healing was going, and although there has been some improvement in the healing of the stress “hot spot” on his back, sources quoted in the report indicated that it’s not sufficient to allow him to resume bowling. Cummins has already been excluded from the first Test, which will start on November 21 in Perth, and his chances of playing for the remaining matches have now become extremely doubtful. Cricket Australia has so far refused to make any formal statement regarding this.
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Cummins had remained optimistic earlier, mentioning that the Ashes were still a priority for him and that he was prepared to take calculated risks in order to be fit on time. But this latest health update has raised grave doubts about his being able to appear in any portion of the headline series this summer. In his absence, which is likely, experienced batter Steve Smith is being asked to assume captaincy responsibilities. Smith, who took over as skipper in portions of the 2023–24 season, is Australia’s most experienced leadership candidate.
Cummins’ absence also brings the potential for Scott Boland to come into the pace attack, potentially sharing a spot at the opener in Perth with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Boland has become a go-to option for Australia over the past few years and will likely bear more of the workload now.
This blow arrives at the right moment for the Aussies, who have held the Ashes since 2018 and are set to play an invigorated England team under the leadership of Ben Stokes. England, even though they lack a Test victory in Australia since 2011, will consider the possibility of the absence of Cummins a huge advantage.
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Apart from his talent with the ball, Cummins’ level-headed and measured leadership has been crucial to Australia’s success in all three formats. His prolonged workload as both captain and frontline fast bowler is now being questioned, particularly with a high-intensity international schedule in recent times.
Though there remains a remote possibility of Cummins’ return later in the series perhaps for the last one or two Tests his return date is far from clear, given that he has no warm-up games to gently prepare him for the rigors of Test cricket. With the Ashes looming, Australia will have to make do in a hurry, relying on pace depth as well as on Smith’s leadership to compensate for the loss of their captain.
