Australia coach Andrew McDonald said the team remains cautious about Pat Cummins’ injury risk ahead of the Ashes later this year. Having not featured in any match since the Test series against the West Indies in July, Cummins is in a race against time to regain full fitness for the high-profile five-match Test series on home soil.
Cummins, who has been out of action with a lower-back stress injury, resumed running this week after medical scans showed encouraging signs of recovery.
McDonald stressed that Cummins needs to start bowling at least four and a half weeks before the Ashes to be match ready. The coach warned that if the injury flares up early in the series, it could set Cummins back even further — a situation Australia wants to avoid by managing his workload carefully.
“My view would be four, four-and-a-half weeks. Myself and Patty have spoken about that type of timeframe. Or else you start to bring in other risk factors – a) you’re not skill ready, b) soft tissue injuries then become a real risk,” McDonald was quoted as saying on cricket.com.au.
“And if you were to do a soft tissue injury early in a series like the Ashes, then it’s a long way back from where he’s been. So we’ll be mindful of all those risk factors,” McDonald added.
If Cummins fails to regain full fitness in time, Steve Smith is expected to take over the captaincy. Scott Boland, who has often found himself on the sidelines behind Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood in Australia’s pace pecking order, is also likely to get a spot in the playing XI.
The first Ashes Test is set to begin on Friday, November 21, at Perth Stadium, followed by matches at the Gabba, Adelaide Oval, Melbourne Cricket Ground, and Sydney Cricket Ground. Australia currently sit atop the World Test Championship 2025–27 standings after their 3-0 series sweep against the West Indies.
