Australia pace spearhead Pat Cummins claims that his desire to be fully fit for the forthcoming Test season—during which he hopes to play every game—was another factor in his injury-induced withdrawal from the T20 World Cup.
Australia’s Test and ODI skipper, Cummins, was replaced by Ben Dwarshuis for the T20 World Cup when he was unable to recuperate from a back ailment.
Despite feeling “really good” at the moment, Cummins has been suffering with a back problem since Australia’s tour of the West Indies last July. Following a scan, he made the decision to miss the T20 World Cup beginning on February 7.
“It was really unfortunate. I feel pretty good, just a minor setback and just ran out of time really. I’ll rest up for a few weeks and go from there,” Cummins was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.
“We knew after the (Adelaide) Test match we were going to need somewhere between four and eight weeks to let the bone settle right down before then building back up. Initially, we thought it might only be four weeks, because I was feeling really good, but just had a follow-up scan. They thought it probably needs another couple of weeks, so the timeline just became a bit too tight.”
Australia’s Test schedule is full, beginning in August with two Test matches against Bangladesh in Darwin and Mackay, and ending in September with a Test and One-Day International trip to South Africa.
After hosting New Zealand, the Australians will go to India for a five-Test Border-Gavaskar series. In March, they will play England in the pink-ball 150th anniversary Test at the MCG.
The ODI World Cup, an away Ashes series, and a potential World Test Championship final at Lord’s in June would come next.
“We thought the first half of the year was a pretty good time to be conservative with the amount of cricket that’s coming up. We’ll get it right, then hopefully that will mean you won’t have to worry about it, and you can just go out and play all those Test matches. Whereas, if you’re not careful with it now and it flares up, you’re chasing your tail a bit,” the 32-year-old pacer said.
However, Cummins hopes to be fit enough to captain Sunrisers Hyderabad when the IPL 2026 begins on March 26.
“We’ll just be guided by my back. We’ll have another scan in a few weeks, and if it’s good, then we’ll have a slow build-up. T20s are a little bit easier to get up for (than Tests), that’s why I was so close to getting up for this World Cup,” he said.
Although Australia’s preparation for the T20 World Cup wasn’t the best—they lost 0–3 against Pakistan—Cummins was upbeat about the team’s prospects.
“It wasn’t our greatest few games (in Pakistan), but the guys are coming off a strong Big Bash, and a couple of guys coming back from injury for the World Cup. Morale is good. Chatting to a few of the boys from afar … they know how big it is, they’re desperate to get started and get into it,” Cummins said.
