Australia captain Cummins to miss Ashes opener against England. Steve Smith to stand in as skipper
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/10/2025 (345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia captain Pat Cummins is setting his sights on a return for the second Ashes cricket test after running out of time to be ready for the series opener against England in Perth.
Speculation about Cummins missing the Ashes opener because of his injured back kept growing for weeks until Cricket Australia confirmed Monday that the pace bowler would miss the first test starting Nov. 21.
“We’ve run out of time, unfortunately, but we’re really optimistic and hopeful for the second test match,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald told reporters in Canberra later Monday.
McDonald said Cummins would resume bowling this week, and he’d need four weeks to be ready for test cricket.
The fact that 32-year-old Cummins would soon be bowling was a “huge step,” McDonald said. He hasn’t bowled since Australia’s 3-0 series sweep of the West Indies in the Caribbean in July.
Former skipper Steve Smith will lead Australia in Cummins’ absence when the biggest test series on the 2025 calendar gets started. The second test, a day-nighter in Brisbane, starts Dec. 4. The five-match series then moves to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
Cummins’ absence means Scott Boland is likely to join Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in Australia’s pace attack in Perth, where conditions usually favor pace bowling.
In nine home tests, Boland has taken 49 wickets at an average of 12.63 — including his debut in 2021 when he snared six wickets for seven runs in a second-innings burst that secured a huge win for Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“When you talk about Scott Boland being a potential replacement, it’s not a bad position to be in,” McDonald said of selections for the Ashes. “Ideally, we want our captain available for stability and decision-making. But as I said, Steve Smith will slide into that position. And yeah, I suppose you get excited about when (Cummins) does come back, what an injection that will be to the group.”
___
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket