Having endured a frustrating spell on the sidelines due to a back injury, Australian skipper Pat Cummins is setting his sights on a return to action in the third Test in Adelaide. Cummins was sidelined for the first two Ashes Tests owing to a persistent back injury, which has held him back from playing for the past few months. Providing an update on his injury, Cummins expressed optimism with respect to his return in the third Test.
“First of all, yeah, I should be right for Adelaide,” he said on Fox Cricket.
“So, I’ll have one more bowl tomorrow (Sunday), and then we’ll go to Adelaide and have another bowl there.
In the lead-up to the series, Cummins had been managing a lumbar bone-stress issue — a lower-back injury that had first emerged after Australia’s tour of the West Indies. The injury sidelined him for all white-ball matches that preceded the Ashes.
Ahead of the second Test in Brisbane, a day-night match, there were hopes that Cummins might make it to the XI, but the management made the call to delay his return in order for him to make a complete recovery. Following Cummins' unavailability, veteran batter Steve Smith is leading Australia.