Australia’s coach Andrew McDonald is optimistic that captain Pat Cummins will be fit to play in the second Ashes Test and believes it is very unlikely that fast bowler Josh Hazlewood would miss the entire series.
When speaking to media on Monday in Perth, McDonald was a little more optimistic than pacer Cummins, who on Saturday gave himself a “half chance” to play in the day-night Test against England in Brisbane starting on December 4.
The 32-year-old was scheduled to turn his arm in the nets on Monday, the fourth day of the Perth Test, according to the coach, but he had to postpone those preparations by one day due to Australia’s incredible victory in just two days.
“That hasn’t eventuated the way that we would have liked for Patty,” McDonald said.
“Once we see him there again, we’ll be able to then join the dots as to what (a return) potentially looks like. It will be a genuine discussion leading into this Test match and that may be one that eventuates late for us.
“A little bit to work through but it’s nearing completion, which is really, really positive.”
Hazlewood, another member of Australia’s three-man pace cartel for ten years, was unable to play in the opening Test due to a hamstring injury.
“He’s working through first week of his rehab,” said McDonald.
“Once he gets further down the track, then we’ll be in a position to communicate. He’ll be available at some point in the series.”
In the first Test, which was dominated by pace bowling until Travis Head’s outstanding 123 won the day for the home team, Mitchell Starc, the third member of the trio, came up with match statistics of 10 for 113.
Usman Khawaja, the opener who was unable to start at the top of the order for the second innings due to back spasms in Perth, has returned home for checks, according to McDonald, but even if he is fully fit, he may not play in Brisbane.
“It’s a long way out, a lot of information to gather between now and then, and hopefully Usman is fit and available for selection,” he said.
“I think anytime you spasm, it’s a result of something going on in your back. So I think that further investigation is just due diligence around that.”
Head struck his match-winning century as a second-innings opener in his absence, and McDonald hinted the South Australian could reprise the role in future games.
“I think it gave us a little bit of a lens potentially to the future in terms of adjusting batting orders in second innings,” he said.
“You do it in one-day cricket, you front-end some of your innings if you know the back end is going to be difficult to chase down the runs.
“It’s a conversation that we have had. We’ve had a conversation around Travis opening the batting for a long period of time, and Trav has been on the record this week around that also.”
Pink-ball Tests often tilt towards pace, especially under lights, but McDonald insisted spinner Nathan Lyon would remain very much in contention for the Gabba.
“It’s not something that we like doing,” the coach said. “If you look at Australian pink ball cricket in general terms, the middle sessions have been quite benign, and Nathan’s done a lot of work there.”
