Pat Cummins has picked up a ball again. On Wednesday morning the Australia captain ambled in from five paces at Cricket NSW’s Silverwater base, sending down a handful of gentle deliveries under the eye of long-time physio Patrick Farhart and strength coach Dean McNamara. It was hardly full throttle, yet it is the first tangible sign of progress in his race to feature in this season’s Ashes.
Cummins has already been scratched from the series opener in Perth on 21 November. His own estimate – four to six weeks of bowling before he will trust his body in a match – leaves the second Test in Brisbane on 4 December as the earliest realistic target, with Adelaide from 17 December a safety net.
Two days earlier head coach Andrew McDonald had outlined the schedule and the uncertainty that comes with stress injuries of the back. “We flagged this a week or so ago, that it would take sort of four-plus weeks to get him up and running,” McDonald told reporters on Monday. “We’ve run out of time [for the first Test] unfortunately, but really optimistic and hopeful for the second Test match.”
He was pressed on exact dates. “The next question is, what’s the time frame, what does it look like for the second Test? [I am] not really going to be able to answer that, other than to say that he’ll be back bowling this week, and that’s a huge step.
“That was the big variable that we wanted to add in and get that information. So we’re on the journey to that second Test and very hopeful that that will be a positive outcome.”
Cummins last played in mid-July in the Caribbean, feeling soreness on return and later being diagnosed with a lumbar stress injury. How he responds to each bowling day will dictate the next. As McDonald summed up: “We will see how he pulls up and then we’ll make decisions moving forward. With the nature of this injury, it’s never going to be a clear time frame … I would never put the medical team under that sort of duress either.”
Australia’s selectors, mindful of past campaigns disrupted by rushing fast bowlers, will tread carefully. For now, Cummins’ five-step run-up may look like baby steps, yet with the Ashes a marathon rather than a sprint, it keeps the door ajar for a meaningful impact later in the series.
