Australia captain Pat Cummins’ chances of participating in the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next year are “quite grey at the moment” due to a back stress condition that has interfered with his involvement in the current Ashes series against England.
After missing the first two Ashes Tests, Cummins returned to play in the third one in Adelaide, where he took six wickets to help Australia take an unassailable 3-0 lead.
The Australian Test and ODI captain, however, will not play in the series going forward, and it is also unclear if he will attend the T20 World Cup. Australia’s T20I captain is all-rounder Mitchell Marsh.
“Looking forward to the World Cup, whether he will be there or not, I can’t really say. It’s quite grey at the moment. We’re hopeful,” head coach Andrew McDonald was quoted as saying by ‘ESPNCricinfo’.
During Australia’s July tour of the West Indies, the fast bowler was diagnosed with a lumbar stress reaction. Before being given the all-clear to return to Adelaide under strict supervision, he completed rehabilitation.
“He’s pulled up fine. He won’t play any part in the rest of the series and that was a discussion that we had a long time out around his return,” McDonald said.
“We were taking on some risk and people that reported on that would understand the risk associated with that rebuild. We’ve now won the series and that was the goal.
“So, to position him for further risk and jeopardise him long-term is not something that we want to do and Pat’s really comfortable with that,” he added.
India and Sri Lanka will host the T20 World Cup starting on February 7, with the summit clash scheduled for March 8.
Australia’s opening game is against Ireland in Colombo on February 11.
