{"id":820460,"date":"2026-11-01T05:30:21","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T05:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/820460\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T05:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T05:30:21","slug":"quite-confident-cummins-responds-to-smith-injury-debate-forecasts-changes-for-home-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/820460\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Quite confident\u2019: Cummins responds to Smith injury debate, forecasts changes for home Tests"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

November 1, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n

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Cape Town: Pat Cummins has insisted Steve Smith was confident of getting up to play in the Newlands Test, after the vice-captain had given an account suggesting his neck issue was more serious than it had first appeared.<\/p>\n

As he picked through the wreckage of a heavy defeat to South Africa in consecutive Tests to lose the world number one ranking in Test cricket, Cummins conceded more changes would be required to the team following repeated batting problems both before and during this tour.<\/p>\n

\"CumminsCummins walks off after being dismissed on day 3 of the Third test.Getty Images<\/p>\n

He looked somewhat stunned to be told his former teammate David Warner had labelled Saturday\u2019s batting display as \u201cdisgraceful\u201d and \u201cun-Australian\u201d, saying \u201cI don\u2019t even know what to make of that\u201d.<\/p>\n

But Cummins was more forthcoming about Smith, and how it came to be that he withdrew an hour before play, forcing Josh Inglis to be rushed into the side. Smith’s account, as told to freelance cricket writer and broadcaster Bharat Sundaresan, had made it sound as though the 37-year-old had always been facing an uphill battle.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Simon<\/a><\/p>\n

“Yeah, I mean, Steve himself was quite confident that he was going to get up, so obviously we chat to him a fair bit, and you know he wanted to give it right to the last minute, but he was feeling relatively good about it,” Cummins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, he had a few hits, so you know I think we were all really confident. We still knew that he needed to pass a fitness test in the morning, and it wasn\u2019t a dead certainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut yeah, unfortunately, he just didn\u2019t feel quite right\u2026 He knows his body better than anyone else, so I was definitely disappointed. He\u2019s the best player in the world, vice captain, all those things. But the show goes on. Someone like Josh Inglis was lined up as well, just in case. So it was all good. We moved on pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith had told Sundaresan before play on day three that he would not have been able to play without trying a pain-killing injection in his neck on match morning, which ultimately had the effect of making him feel worse.<\/p>\n

\"Australia\u2019sAustralia\u2019s Steve Smith receives medical attention during day four of the second Test.AP Photo<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked him about the bandage that he had there. So, that was because he had taken an injection, like a pain blocker, to see if that does any help,\u201d Sundaresan had said. \u201cIf anything, it went the other way. It made it worse, he said. And that made him kind of wobbly on his feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked him about the moment when he tried to check the firmness of the pitch, almost toppled over. And he said he just hasn\u2019t been able to really move that beyond a point. And it\u2019s been really giving him a lot of grief. He hasn\u2019t slept too well, or he hadn\u2019t slept well for the first two days leading into that Test match, and definitely not on that first night.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Simon<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI asked him whether he could have played without the injection. And he feels, nah, it was that bad that he couldn\u2019t have done anything. And he said, \u2018Every time I bent down, there was a shooting pain that was going up to my neck\u2019. So, there\u2019s no way he could have fielded at slip or anywhere on day one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith is now recuperating with a view to being fit to play in the first Test against New Zealand in December, which Cummins admitted would likely see further team changes. Marnus Labuschagne seems certain to be dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s fair to be asking those questions. So we\u2019ll be asking them internally as well,\u201d Cummins said. \u201cWe are a very good side, but I think we need to get a little bit better if we want to get back to number one and where we think we can be. So yeah, maybe that\u2019s a change of style. Maybe it\u2019s a change of personnel in some instances.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re a better side than what we have been playing lately. So, whether that makes us the top team or not, you know, obviously it doesn\u2019t at the moment, so I think there are clear improvements to be made. I thought they outplayed us. Obviously, it\u2019s a home series for them, but the conditions aren\u2019t a million miles away from what we can get in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Starc<\/a><\/p>\n

Cummins also addressed his own failure to have an impact on the series after the first Test in Durban, noting that most statistical measures of his performance suggested he had not fallen away, merely that the wickets had not come.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really happy with how I bowled and batted in Durban,\u201d he said. \u201cTo be honest, I don\u2019t think it changed much really. The last two Tests, ball speed, false shot percentage, all those things stayed relatively similar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had series where I\u2019ve felt a little bit injured or technique or whatever, and I haven\u2019t taken wickets, and you feel a bit further away from it. But I was actually overall generally happy with how I bowled and tried lots of different things on relatively benign wickets, but just couldn\u2019t get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Close\"DanielDaniel Brettig<\/a> is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"November 1, 2026 \u2014 5:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":820461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1721,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-820460","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\/820460","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=820460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=820460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=820460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}