Australia captain Cummins to miss Ashes opener against England. Steve Smith to stand in as skipper
Original Publication Date: October 26, 2025 5:15PM
Publication Updated: October 26, 2025 11:24PM
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.”
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