Pat Cummins out of Perth Test, may miss full Ashes

Australia’s captain Pat Cummins is set to miss the start of the Ashes and may miss the whole series after a fresh round of scans revealed his back stress problem had not yet healed.

Cummins, who had previously expressed confidence that he would be able to take a significant part in the series, is no chance for the opener in Perth, starting on November 21, and may even miss all five Tests, leaving Steve Smith as the likely stand-in skipper to face Ben Stokes’ England team.

Australian skipper Pat Cummins’ injury is worse than first thought.Credit: AP

According to two sources with knowledge of confidential discussions but not authorised to speak publicly, 32-year-old Cummins had the update scan late last week to clarify his progress ahead of the Test summer and was told that while the stress “hot spot” was healing, it has not yet cleared up enough for him to bowl.

The update will likely set back his return to play to the last few weeks of the year, making it very hard for him to get up to speed in time to take part in a tightly scheduled Ashes series. Cricket Australia declined to comment.

A best-case scenario for Cummins may be that he returns to the team at the back end of the Ashes, much as Scott Boland has reinforced the pace battery in recent summers. Boland now looks certain to be the third quick in Perth behind Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.

The loss of Cummins with a back stress injury is a massive blow to Australia's chances of retaining the Ashes urn that Australia have held since 2018.

England have not won a Test on Australian soil since 2011 but will be given a major filip by the news they will not be facing Australia's strongest leader and fast bowling spearhead.

“That would be devastating,” Cummins said in Brisbane a month ago when asked if there was a possibility he would miss the start of the Ashes. “We’ll be doing everything we can to be right for that, [and] make a few decisions a little bit closer, but [I’m] confident we’ll do the rehab right and give it a good crack.

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“This far out it’s hard to know, but we’re trying to make sure we’re doing everything right to be right for Perth. It’s a big Ashes series, [it] doesn’t get much bigger, so you’re willing to be aggressive and take a few risks to try to play as much of the Tests as you can.

“I’ve had a really good run as fast bowling goes, and I’ve been really well looked after, which has got me through this many Tests. I’ve bowled a lot over the last few years, something was bound to happen at some point, but hopefully get this right and don’t miss too much cricket.”

More to come

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