Australia captain Pat Cummins, who is currently struggling with an injury, is willing to commit himself and take a few risks to be fit for the upcoming highly anticipated Ashes against arch-rivals England.
“I think you`re willing to take a few risks and be a little bit aggressive to try and play as much Tests as you can. At this stage of my career, I feel like I can probably get up to speed a bit quicker than when I was 18 or 19,” Cummins told cricket.com.au.
The Ashes is all set to kick off from November 21 in Perth.
Recently, a scan revealed lumbar bone stress in the pacer`s lower back, which has caused a setback in his preparations for The Ashes. Following the injury, the Westmead-born cricketer is also set to miss out on the white-ball assignments against New Zealand and Team India.
The pacer also said that he will never feature in a Test match until he feels that he can finish the game.
“I`m never going to go into a Test match unless you think you can finish the Test match. But when you`re 18 or 19, you`re like, Let`s make sure this is the perfect rehab, whether it takes an extra six months,” said Cummins. “Whereas, I`m happy to be a bit like, well, it`s an Ashes series, whatever it takes to play it. Then, say, at the end, if you`re still not 100 per cent and you need to, then have a bit of a break next year … there`s not another Ashes series.”
For now, it is difficult to pinpoint what triggered his injury, but the pacer has hinted at the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa as a possible cause.
The 32-year-old Cummins bowled a total of 35.1 overs in the contest. “Sometimes you might just get unlucky and bowl a lot of overs in, say, the World Test Championship final, and that`s enough to kind of start it,” he said.
He further added that, as a fast bowler, being prone to injuries is nothing new. “Through the West Indies, I felt like maybe it was a little bit sore, but nothing abnormal for fast bowlers, you`ve always got some niggles. Once you get home and everything settles down, it just hung around a little bit,” he signed off.
In the three Test matches against West Indies, he bowled fewer overs than usual. The speedster also missed out on the five T20I matches against the Caribbean and both white-ball series against South Africa.
In each of the last three years, Cummins has bowled 400-plus overs. However, in nine months of 2025, he has managed 175.1 overs, indicating a significant drop in his workload.
(With ANI inputs)