Pat Cummins says he is “probably unlikely” to play in the first Ashes Test in Perth as he continues to recover from a back injury.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Sydney, the Australian skipper Cummins was asked about the chances of him being ready for the opening of the series on November 21.<\/p>\n
The AshesFirst Test: November 21-25 (Perth Stadium)Second Test: December 4-8 (Gabba, D\/N)Third Test: December 17-21 (Adelaide Oval)Fourth Test: December 26-30 (MCG)Fifth Test: January 4-8 (SCG)<\/p>\n
D\/N = day\/night Test<\/p>\n
“We’ll see how we go with the first Test, still got a bit of time \u2014 I’d say probably unlikely at this stage [to be fit for Perth], but doing everything we can to be right,” Cummins told ABC Sport.<\/p>\n
“Initially for a while it was quite awkward, really, I wouldn’t say an acute pain, but it gets stiff and even holding a little baby after five minutes, you feel like you need to stretch your back a bit.<\/p>\n
“The first step’s re-introducing running, then some bowling prep work, so with net balls, then short run-up, full run-up, and then when you want high intensity, you want lots of overs.<\/p>\n
“Our timeline’s pretty tight so we’re trying to condense what would normally take a few months into a little bit shorter than that, but we’ve got a pretty clear path. It’s quite a common bowling injury so we know how to deal with them.”<\/p>\n
Cummins has not bowled since Australia’s tour of the West Indies in July.<\/p>\n
Recent scans showed a stress injury in the Australian captain’s back had not healed.<\/p>\n
Cummins was non-committal when asked if there was a chance he could miss more than just one Test.<\/p>\n
“Look, I hope not, but it’s probably a bit too far out [timewise] to say,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’ve got a session today, hopefully I’ll tick that off, then you progress to the next one and the next one.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately, you can’t forecast too far out, but at the moment I’m feeling good, there hasn’t been any major hiccups so far.”<\/p>\n