Australian Test captain Pat Cummins is not giving up hope to play all five Ashes Tests, although he admits his summer plans may look “a bit different” this season.
Cummins is on the road to recovery from a bone stress issue in his lower-back that was discovered after the West Indies series and has sidelined him from cricket since.
Australia coach Andrew McDonald remains confident the injured star will be fit to play a key role in the men’s Ashes series, even if no return timeline has been set as of yet.
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With just two months to go until the first Ashes Test begins in Perth, Cummins admits he is feeling “pretty good” and hopeful that he will be present for the series.
But he insists there are “no hard and fast plans” for his return just yet.
Australia’s Pat Cummins exits the field after day four of the ICC World Test Championship Final. PA Images via Getty Images
“I’m still doing a bit of gym and keeping things kicking over,” Cummins told reporters on Friday.
“With this kind of injury, it’s rest and then we’ll build back and kind of work back from the Ashes. I’m still really hopeful to be able to be part of the Ashes but it is a little bit of a wait and see.
“At the moment, I’m feeling pretty good, so nothing’s changed from what it was a couple of weeks ago really.”
Asked if he will be fit to play in all five Tests, Cummins was positive he could do so.
Although, the 32-year-old noted he will not risk playing if he is not 100 per cent.
“The aim is five. Every summer, you kind of aim for five,” Cummins added.
“The aim at the moment is to try and be ready for all of it.
“Once we get closer, we’re probably going to chat through potentially more realistic situations. It’s honestly too far out to say.
Australian cricket players celebrate taking a wicket. Â AP
“Ideally, you’re playing ODIs and then you’re playing a [Sheffield] Shield game … that’s probably what the other boys are doing and that was probably my original plan.
“I won’t go into a Test where I feel like I [will] break down or anything like that. I think if you’d asked me 10 years ago, I would have said I really feel like I need to play games.
“I’ve bowled a lot more overs (now). I feel like I can kind of get up to Test level pretty quickly.”
Josh Hazlewood was in a similar situation to Cummins at the end of last year, a case which the latter noted when speaking to reporters.
“The biggest goal is always to have a big bowling group, who are fit, ready and firing,” he continued.
“Most years, at least one of the bowlers normally goes down. For (a five-Test series) you do really need a squad of bowlers.
“Obviously conditions change, but I think that you just need that fresh bowler and guys that can come in and bowl 40 overs without really blinking in a Test match.
“I think that’s super valuable.”