Bad news for Australia as Cummins out of remainder of Ashes, doubtful for T20 World Cup
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Bad news for Australia as Cummins out of remainder of Ashes, doubtful for T20 World Cup")
Bad news for Australia as Cummins out of remainder of Ashes, doubtful for T20 World Cup Photograph: (AFP)
Cummins played a handy role in helping Australia win the Adelaide Test and secure the Ashes.
Australia suffered a massive blow to its quest to inflict a series whitewash on England in the ongoing Ashes after losing its Test captain Pat Cummins for the remainder of the matches. Not only this, but the Aussies could also be without him for the forthcoming T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka starting February 7 next year.
After Australia announced the squad for the Boxing Day Test on Tuesday (Dec 23) morning, leaving out both Cummins and Nathan Lyon, head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed that the selectors and the medical staff were unwilling to put Cummins’ long-term health at risk, keeping his T20 WC chances hanging.
The ace quick was diagnosed with a lumber stress reaction following the West Indies tour, which kept him out of action for a few months. However, an aggressive rehab program enabled him to regain full fitness in time for the concluding third Ashes Test, where he returned to captain the side, helping them win the match and secure the urn. Cummins bowled impressively in Adelaide, picking six wickets across both innings.
Speaking on the same lines, McDonald confirmed that Cummins was always supposed to make a lone or limited appearance in this series, given his back injury.
"He's pulled up fine," McDonald said. "He won't play any part in the rest of the series, and that was a discussion that we had a long time out around his return.
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"We were taking on some risk, and people that reported on that would understand the risk associated with that rebuild. We've now won the series, and that was the goal. So, to position him for further risk and jeopardise him long-term is not something that we want to do, and Pat's really comfortable with that,” he continued.
Cummins’ T20 WC chances
Having not played a T20I for Australia since the 2024 World Cup in the Americas, Cummins' chances of appearing in the upcoming edition look gloomy, with his fitness and forthcoming IPL 2026 playing a handy role in the final decision.
McDonald confirms that all departments concerned will assess his situation, but as things stand, his selection remains under dark clouds.
"That'll be an assessment," McDonald said of Cummins' T20 World Cup chances. "I'm assuming he'll have a check-in scan at some point and gather more information around where his back is at… looking forward to the World Cup, whether he'll be there or not. I can't really say. It's quite grey at the moment. We're hopeful."
Meanwhile, the fourth Ashes Test will get underway on December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
