Pat Cummins will not play another match in the ongoing Ashes series and there is serious doubt about his availability for the T20 World Cup in February, with Cricket Australia refusing to take any risks with his long-term fitness. Head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed on December 23 that Cummins’ Ashes campaign is finished after just one appearance in Adelaide, where he took six wickets to help Australia seal the series 3-0. The decision is part of a carefully managed comeback from a lumbar stress reaction that threatened to rule him out of the entire series.​

Cummins’ Ashes over after one brilliant performance

When Australia named their squad for the Boxing Day Test, Cummins was left out as expected, but McDonald later confirmed the captain would not return for the fifth Test in Sydney either. He explained that the plan had always been conservative given the injury risk Cummins carried.

McDonald said,

“He’s pulled up fine. He won’t play any part in the rest of the series and that was a discussion that we had a long time out around his return. We were taking on some risk and people that reported on that would understand the risk associated with that rebuild. We’ve now won the series and that was the goal. So, to position him for further risk and jeopardise him long-term is not something that we want to do and Pat’s really comfortable with that.”

Cummins was diagnosed with a lumbar stress reaction after Australia’s tour of the West Indies in July but underwent an aggressive rehabilitation program to be ready for the Adelaide Test. He bowled brilliantly across both innings, taking 6 wickets including crucial dismissals on the final day as Australia won by 82 runs to retain the Ashes.

McDonald praised the medical team and Cummins for even making that one Test possible. He said,

“If he had any setback in the build as well, we would have shut him down straight away. Everything went really smoothly and full credit to him [and] the medical team. To navigate through that risk profile to get him back and take six wickets in that game and nail the Ashes series was incredibly pleasing for everyone associated with that.”

He added,

“If you look at the decision sort of four months ago and the journey he went on to get to where he was to be able to play the third Ashes Test when people thought it was nigh on impossible, that took an incredible amount of work from our SSSM [Sports Science Sports Medicine] team.”

T20 World Cup participation uncertain

Beyond the Ashes, there is now major uncertainty about whether Cummins will be available for the T20 World Cup, which begins in February in India and Sri Lanka. McDonald said the selectors would seek further medical advice before naming the squad and that Cummins would likely need another scan to assess the state of his back.

McDonald said,

“That’ll be an assessment. I’m assuming he’ll have a check-in scan at some point and gather more information around where his back is at… looking forward to the World Cup, whether he’ll be there or not. I can’t really say. It’s quite grey at the moment. We’re hopeful.”

Cummins has not played a T20I for Australia since the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA. Shortly after the upcoming T20 World Cup, IPL 2026 will begin, where Cummins is contracted to captain Sunrisers Hyderabad. How Cricket Australia manages his workload between these three major commitments remains to be seen.

Mitchell Starc the “freak” leading Australia’s attack

With Cummins out and Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the entire Ashes series due to injury, Mitchell Starc has led Australia’s pace attack brilliantly. He was exceptional in the first two Tests in Perth and Brisbane, then sealed the series with three wickets on the final day in Adelaide. Starc has already said he wants to play all five Tests.

McDonald was full of praise for Starc’s incredible durability and workload management. He said,

“Starc’s amazing, he’s pulled up fine, I don’t know how he does it. I walked into the physio room the other day and sort of just went through the body count and how we’re going. I won’t use exactly what [the physio] said, but he just said he [Starc] is a freak.”

McDonald also credited Starc’s career choices for his longevity in Test cricket. He added,

“He keeps running in, presenting the pace that he does. There’s a lot to be learned around preparing yourself and targeting the right matches at the right time. He’s given up a lot of IPL opportunities and you’re seeing a player that wants to play Test cricket and he’s still at his best. It’s an incredible story. Let’s hope it continues for a long time yet but he’s a freak, end of story.”

Australia have added Jhye Richardson to their squad for the Boxing Day Test as pace cover. Richardson has recovered from shoulder surgery and last played a Test during the 2021-22 Ashes series.