No white-ball for cricket for Pat Cummins before October as Australian captain prepares for Ashes

Australia Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins will miss the home ODIs and T20Is against South Africa starting next month to prepare for the Ashes later this year. Currently in the Caribbean for the Test series against West Indies, and having won the first two matches, with the third and final one starting Saturday (Jul 12) in Jamaica, Cummins had already been rested for the five T20Is that follow, alongside seamer Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Travis Head. Josh Hazlewood will also return home after the Test series, despite being picked in the T20I squad, with backup quick Xavier Bartlett named as his replacement.

While Hazlewood will play the home series against the Proteas, including three T20Is and as many ODIs, played across Darwin, Cairns and Mackay, Cummins will return to the training base ahead of the marquee home summer. The fast bowler, however, eyes return during a short tour to New Zealand in early October and a handful of white-ball matches against India later. Not only this, but Cummins also plans to feature in the Sheffield Shield before the English Team reaches Aussie shores for the away Ashes.

"I'll have a good training block for the next couple of months, six weeks or so," Cummins said to reporters at Sabina Park ahead of the Pink Ball Test against West Indies.

"Probably not bowling, but lots of gym work. [My] body feels pretty good, but there's always little bits and pieces you're always trying to get right and then build up for the summer. So it'll probably look like white-ball [cricket]…we've got some [matches against] New Zealand, India, potentially a Shield game and then into the home summer,” he continued.

More action for uncertain top three

Despite Australia beating the West Indies in the first two matches, not all of their players are in form, especially the top three, including Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja and Cameron Green. While veteran Khawaja is unlikely to play any cricket until Shield season begins ahead of the home summer, Konstas and Green have plenty to play for.

Konstas and Green have two innings each in the final Test to impress the selectors and push their case for the home Ashes.

"There's a lot of Shield cricket to come and some Aussie A stuff as well," Cummins said on the significance of the final Test in the West Indies. "I think [if] you do well at Test level, any time it's going to kind of make your case more compelling. I think there's a bit of a connection to the summer, but it feels a long way away at the moment."