Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nHe expressed surprise the Australian captain was suffering from a stress-related problem given his physical maturity but said the important thing is that Cummins ensures he is completely fit before deciding to feature in the Ashes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s looking now to focus on the Test matches and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that. There is no point coming back too early and playing the one day matches and then not be ready for the Test matches,\u201d Lee told The Follow On. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just really hope Pat Cummins gives himself the amount of time to be 100 per cent raring to go … and if he\u2019s not ready for the first Test, not 100 per cent, leave him until the second Test. If he is not ready for the second Test, leave him to the Third. But if he is ready to go for the first Test, 100 per cent charge in. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat you don\u2019t want to do is go in 90 per cent for the first Test, get injured, maybe in the first innings or the second innings, you know, and then you\u2019re down a bowler and then you\u2019ve lost the whole Australian summer, lost the captain, lost your strike bowler. <\/p>\n
\u201cTime is of essence here. (He has) got to make sure that he gives himself every opportunity. And Pat Cummins is a smart guy. It\u2019s not his first mango season. He\u2019s been around the bush a long time now and he\u2019ll make sure he makes the right call.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cummins fully focussed on Ashes return | 01:55<\/p>\n
Scott Boland, clearly, shapes as the logical replacement should Cummins or the other champion pace bowlers Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Starc succumb to fitness issues during the Ashes, as proved the case last summer when he starred in Adelaide and Sydney.<\/p>\n
But if there are significant issues, Lee expressed confidence in the talent of domestic stars including Brendan Doggett, who was selected for the Caribbean tour in June only to suffer from a minor hip issues, along with Victorian star Fergus O\u2019Neill and Sean Abbott.<\/p>\n
He said it was critical the fringe contenders ensured they showed strong form in the infancy of the Sheffield Shield season in case a vacancy opens.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoggett, he was not even on my radar, but he has been a guy who has been around a long time now and has always been thereabouts, while Abbott has been around the squad a lot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpencer Johnson (who is currently injured) has been mentioned before. Guys like a Nathan Ellis, a Jhye Richardson who has done very well … so pending fitness, Australia have got probably four or five guys that they can lean on. <\/p>\n
\u201cOf course Scott Boland is the next cab off the rank. And it\u2019s funny when we, either as a journalist or as a broadcaster, say that he\u2019s the replacement (because) he would be any team across the world, in any format, to be truthful, and would be in the starting XI. But unfortunately, a bit like (Stuart) McGill in the Warne era, he was probably born in the wrong era. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t go away from Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins, as they are first picked. But Boland will definitely be the next cab off the rank. And then if one of the other bowlers go down, then those names that I mentioned will have to ensure firstly, that they\u2019re fully fit, and secondly, that they\u2019re raring to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee urged those outside the current Australian squad to further their skillset, saying that if fringe contenders could improve either their fielding or batting, it could prove critical should a vacancy open during the Ashes or in the summers to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike I\u2019ve always said, my advice to any young first class cricketer is if you\u2019re out there, work on your skills. Work on making sure that you\u2019re not just a fast bowler,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 09: Pat Cummins poses during a portrait session at the National Cricket Centre on September 09, 2025 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde\/Getty Images for Cricket Australia)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
How much longer does Stokes have left? | 03:11<\/p>\n
Former Australian cricketer Ryan Campbell, who is currently coaching English County side Durham, has revealed Stokes is back batting in the nets after succumbing to a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the final Test of the thrilling series against India.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last week, he has started to hit balls and had a really good session. The batting side of things is going very well but the bowling will take a lot longer. He is being treated very steadily,\u201d Campbell told the BBC.<\/p>\n
Wood, who has not played since the Champions Trophy in February, suffered a setback which precluded him from replacing Stokes in the final Test but Campbell said he is hopeful Wood will be able to play next week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that happens, it is not only great for Durham but also for England. He is extremely close to playing,\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n
LEEDS, ENGLAND – AUGUST 07: Ben Stokes of Northern Superchargers smiles during the warm up prior to the The Hundred match between Northern Superchargers Men and Welsh Fire Men at Headingley on August 07, 2025 in Leeds, England. (Photo by Stu Forster\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pat Cummins is sidelined and Ben Stokes is back in the nets. But it is not all doom…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[14206,428,7614,59356,59355,52862,59384,59360,59365,19028,8032,55797,59372,59363,59354,59368,59367,1721,59357,59376,59380,309,59382,59366,591,59373,59359,8222,27379,59353,59358,59381,59370,59374,59383,7613,59375,3604,7618,8106,59379,5017,59377,59378,59369,59385,52868,59362,59364,14205,101,59361,1288,56,54,55,59371],"class_list":["post-125176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-adelaide","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-captain","tag-australian-cricketer","tag-australian-squad","tag-australian-summer","tag-batting-side","tag-brendan-doggett","tag-brett-lee","tag-brisbane","tag-british-broadcasting-corporation","tag-champion-pace-bowlers","tag-chris-hyde","tag-city-of-leeds","tag-class-cricketer","tag-courtney-walsh","tag-cricket","tag-cricket-analyst","tag-day-australian","tag-day-matches","tag-england","tag-english-county-side","tag-english-skipper","tag-europe","tag-fitness-issues","tag-fringe-contenders","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-jake-nowakowski","tag-jhye-richardson","tag-jim-callinan","tag-josh-hazlewood","tag-mango-season","tag-mark-wood","tag-nathan-ellis","tag-new-south-wales","tag-news-english-speedster","tag-northern-europe","tag-oceania","tag-pat-cummins","tag-portrait-session","tag-queensland","tag-question-mark","tag-r-johnson","tag-ryan-campbell","tag-scott-boland","tag-sean-abbott","tag-selection-news","tag-shoulder-injury","tag-south-australia","tag-sports","tag-strike-bowler","tag-sydney","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-usman-khawaja"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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