Australian captain Pat Cummins is unsure whether he’ll be fit in time for the first Ashes Test in Perth in November.
The superstar quick revealed on Wednesday he has undergone two sets of scans on his back since the West Indies tour in July.
And while chairman of selectors George Bailey declared he’ll be right to go, Cummins was nowhere near as definitive, describing the bowling unit as “three fighting fit, plus me”, according to The Age.
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“That would be devastating,” Cummins said of the possibility he would miss the West Test.
“We’ll be doing everything we can to be right for that, make a few decisions a little bit closer, but confident we’ll do the rehab right and give it a good crack.
“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, 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.”
Cummins revealed the starting point for his back issue might have come in the World Test Championship final, when he bowled 35.1 overs against South Africa, before feeling it during the Caribbean tour.
“Was a little bit sore after the West Indies, had a scan, there was a little bit going on, gave it another month, have had a bit of a quiet month to help it settle down,” Cummins said.
“Had another scan on Monday, which was not terrible, but enough to know there’s a little bit there and need to be careful for the next little bit. It doesn’t feel too bad, but I’m not bowling or doing much at the moment.
“Sometimes you may just get unlucky and you bowl lots of overs in, say, the World Test Championship final and that’s enough to start it, but through the West Indies I felt like it was a little sore but nothing (unusual) for a fast bowler. But once you get home and everything settles down, it hung around a little bit.”
Cummins dealt with a back stress fracture which limited him in 2018 but, having been heavily managed including very limited domestic appearances, has otherwise been a consistent feature in the Australian side along with Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon.
The pace trio’s consistency has left Scott Boland on the outer consistently, and he would almost certainly replace Cummins should he miss Perth, with others like Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser and Jhye Richardson next to be considered.
“We always talk about we need a lot of depth,” Cummins said.
“We’ve been lucky in the last couple of years – we haven’t had to go past the four guys really, but guys like Sean Abbott and (Brendan Doggett), there’s four or five guys.
“Neser’s been around, Jhye Richardson, there’s guys who’ve been around the Test team the past few years, and haven’t had too many opportunities, but hopefully the other three are fighting fit, plus me, and we’ve got plenty of resources.”
The first Ashes Test begins on November 21.
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