Australia skipper Pat Cummins has suffered an injury and will miss out on the white ball series against New Zealand and India, Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed on Tuesday.
Australia’s preparation for the Ashes defence against England has been dealt a significant blow after Cummins’ lower-back injury. Australia will tour New Zealand for a three-match T20I series in the first week of October, before India travels Down Under for three ODIs and five T20Is. England will then arrive in Australia at the end of the year for the marquee Ashes series.
After bowling 95.1 overs in four Tests in the UK and the Caribbean (3 Tests vs West Indies, 1 Test vs South Africa during the World Test Championship final), the 32-year-old experienced back pain before medical scans revealed “a level of lumbar bone stress” that CA says “will require further management” in the lead-up to the Ashes. Cummins has missed recent white-ball series in the Caribbean and northern Australia with an initial view to him replicating the mini pre-season that proved successful for him ahead of last summer’s home Tests against India.
But a recurrence of the same type of concern that derailed the early stages of Cummins’ international career is a major headache for the Aussie brains trust.
“Cummins won’t be considered for the upcoming limited-overs series against India (or New Zealand) and will continue his rehabilitation plan with a return to bowling to be determined as part of his Ashes preparation,” read CA’s statement.
Not a stress fracture
The injury has not been labelled a “stress fracture”, but as per cricket.com.au, the medicos must now determine whether Cummins’ back will be able to hold up through an Ashes series that sees five Tests squeezed into seven weeks.
Cummins has been one of Australia’s most durable performers over recent years. He has only missed two Tests through injury since taking over as captain almost four years ago, while only spinner Nathan Lyon (70) has played more Tests than Cummins since the latter’s comeback from injury in 2017.
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The bowling all-rounder has been one of Australia’s most reliable Ashes performers in that time as well, having missed just one of Australia’s past 20 Tests against England. He played all five matches at home in 2017-18 and away in 2019 and 2023. It will be a considerable feat if he can repeat that in 2025-26.
