Australia captain Pat Cummins has said that he hopes to play all five Tests against England during the Ashes series but admitted that it will be a bit of a waiting game for him when it comes to his fitness. The Aussie skipper has been ruled out of the upcoming white-ball series in October against New Zealand and India due to a ‘lumbar bone stress’.
The 32-year-old hasn’t bowled since the West Indies tour in June – July and no return date has been set so far for his return to the fold. Speaking to reporters on Friday, September 19, Cummins said that there are no hard and fast plans in place as he is doing a bit of gym work but said that rest will be key for him.
“There are no hard and fast plans yet,” Cummins told reporters. “I’m still doing a bit of gym and keeping things kicking over, but with this kind of injury, it’s rest and then we’ll build back and kind of work back from the Ashes.
“Still really hopeful to be able to be part of the Ashes. But it is a little bit of a wait and see. At the moment, I’m feeling pretty good, so nothing’s changed from what it was a couple of weeks ago really.”
‘Too far out to say anything’
Cummins went on to say that the Ashes is a bit too far out to say anything at the moment, and he is keeping himself ready for the series.
“The aim is five. Every summer, you kind of aim for five.”
“This one might be a little bit different because you’re coming in a little bit different than other ones. But the starting aim is for five. Once we get closer, we’re probably going to chat through potentially more realistic situations. It’s honestly too far out to say. But the aim at the moment is to try and be ready for all of it,” said Cummins.
The Aussie skipper also said that he will have to workout a new program for himself to get into the groove before the Ashes and stressed that he won’t rush himself into the mix if he isn’t fully fit.
“Ideally, you’re playing ODIs and then you’re playing a [Sheffield] Shield game,” Cummins said. “That’s probably what the other boys are doing. That was probably my original plan, but I think we’ll work out a program where I’m ready to play.”
“I won’t go into a Test where I feel like I [will] break down or anything like that. I think if you’d asked me 10 years ago, I would have said I really feel like I need to play games. Now it’s centre wickets and net sessions. I’ve bowled a lot more overs. I feel like I can kind of get up to Test level pretty quickly.”
The first Test of the Ashes will take place on November 21 in Perth.
