{"id":405770,"date":"2026-02-03T14:57:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T14:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/405770\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T14:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T14:57:08","slug":"pat-cummins-australia-dont-have-to-look-too-far-back-to-find-form-t20-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/405770\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat Cummins: \u2019Australia don\u2019t have to look too far back to find form\u2019 | T20 World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sea is angry today and so is Pat Cummins. A back injury ruled him out of four of five Ashes Tests this summer and it has now kiboshed his T20 World Cup<\/a> hopes. \u201cIt\u2019s annoying,\u201d he says, sitting by Bronte beach, just a cover drive from his home. \u201cI was very keen to play, and when we mapped out a plan for the Ashes and beyond, these T20s were a big part of it. But the scan shows a bit going on, and it needs four more weeks to settle down.\u201d<\/p>\n

It puts the Test captain on ice and means Australia enter the World Cup this week three pace titans down. Mitchell Starc has retired from T20s and Josh Hazlewood is battling a hamstring injury. That\u2019s 182 games of experience missing. Instead, rookie quicks Xavier Bartlett, Ben Dwarsius and Nathan Ellis (64 games collectively) will step up. In a crammed cricket calendar such rotation is inevitable, Cummins says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t play everything. Even us older players, who used to take a lot of convincing, recognise that we need periods each year to build or rebuild strength. Resting from a game or a series here or there means I can prioritise Tests. In the long run it means players get to play more cricket rather than playing until we break.\u201d<\/p>\n

Few know it better than Cummins. Back injuries meant a six-year delay between his first Test at 18 in 2011 and his second as a seasoned 24-year-old in 2017. \u201cThe older I\u2019ve got the better I\u2019ve managed my body and my feel for the game,\u201d he says. \u201cI know now when to push and when not to expend energy unnecessarily. With this injury, all the medical staff and coaches and I were aligned in agreeing not to meddle with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pat Cummins dismisses Joe Root. The Australian captain made an impact in his one Ashes Test. Photograph: Robert Cianflone\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

But 72 Tests, 90 ODIs and 57 T20Is plus franchise cricket are taking a toll. Lumbar stress injuries like his often need 200 days recovery, but an \u201caggressive\u201d six-week plan saw Cummins return to clinch the Ashes in Adelaide. And it has come at a cost. \u201cWe knew the risks,\u201d he says, \u201cbut this rest is precautionary. If it was a World Cup final I\u2019d probably play. But so much cricket is coming so I need to sort it out now.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not wrong. Australia will play 20 Tests in 10 months across 2026-27, starting with two Tests in the Top End against Bangladesh in August before a three-Test tour of South Africa in September, then a four-Test home summer against New Zealand. Next year is even bigger with a tour of India, an away Ashes series, and an ODI World Cup. For now, all eyes are on this 10th T20 World Cup, a 30-day tournament featuring 20 teams competing in 55 matches across five venues in India and three in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

\u201cT20 tournaments are always a bit funny,\u201d Cummins says. \u201cHere there\u2019s five teams who have genuine chances to win it but any team can upset anyone at any stage. You just want to get through these first rounds unscathed to reach the Super 8s. That\u2019s when you need guys fully fit and playing really good cricket. Yes, a few like Josh are still coming back to peak but most have had starring roles in the Big Bash.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia must overcome Ireland, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Oman in the pool stages. If they can nurse their wounded stars Hazlewood, spinner Adam Zampa (neck) and middle order powerhouse Tim David (hamstring) back to health inbetween, they will reach the Super 8s to face West Indies (23 Feb), India (26 Feb) and South Africa (1 March). Unfortunately, they have lost five straight, most recently a 3-0 whipping by Pakistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can shake that off,\u201d Cummins says with a laugh. \u201cWe were terrible leading into the 2021 World Cup and still won it. Australia don\u2019t have to look too far back to find form. Mitch Marsh and Travis Head are the most powerful opening bats in the world. Adam Zampa\u2019s spin is a proven match-winner in Sri Lanka and India. And then there\u2019s the middle order of Glenn Maxwell and Tim David, who can win games on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pat Cummins is counting on playing plenty more cricket of all formats in his future. Photograph: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Like Steve Smith, who was \u201cfantastic in the BBL and will be on the first flight over if anyone drops out of the top order\u201d, Cummins will watch this World Cup from home. He still hopes to cash in a $3.6m deal to lead Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL starting 26 March and also to represent Australia in T20s at the 2028 Olympic Games. \u201cTest cricket\u2019s my favourite but there\u2019s always lots of opportunity to flip between formats.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says Australia\u2019s first Test tour to South Africa since \u201cSandpapergate\u201d looms large. \u201cThey\u2019re the world No 2 and just beat us in the 2025 World Test Championship so it\u2019s going to be huge. South Africa is all about hard wickets, fast bowlers, brutal crowds. After the 2018 tour, there\u2019ll be emotion for sure but we\u2019re an experienced side and we tend to play best when we\u2019re relaxed so we don\u2019t need to go looking for fights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only trophies. And maybe chiropractors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sea is angry today and so is Pat Cummins. A back injury ruled him out of four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1721,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-405770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-cricket","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405770","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=405770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}