Australia captain Pat Cummins gives injury update for first Ashes Test against England in Perth amid speculation over back issue
Updated 13/10/2025 at 16:21 GMT+1
A back injury has caused major speculation about whether Australia captain Pat Cummins will be fit to play in the upcoming Ashes series against England. The bowler has given a fitness update with just over five weeks to go until the opening Test in Perth. Despite making good progress in his recovery, Cummins admitted the first Test might come too soon, as he is yet to start bowling again.
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Australia captain Pat Cummins has admitted he is unlikely to feature in the first Ashes Test against England in Perth, as he continues his recovery from injury.
There have been rumours aplenty about his fitness, with the showdown between the two rivals due to begin on November 21, with every minute of the five-match series available to watch via TNT Sports and discovery+.
Cummins has been struggling with a back injury and has not bowled since July, when Australia claimed a 3-0 series win against West Indies.
Although he is running again as part of his rehab, the Australia skipper is yet to reintroduce bowling exercises into his training plan.
Despite saying he is "actually feeling really good", Cummins knows he faces a battle to be ready to take on England in the opener.
"I wouldn’t put a percentage on it, but I’d say probably less likely than likely," he told Fox Cricket.
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"I’ve still got a bit of time. I’m running today and running every second day, and each run’s a little bit longer and then we get into slight bowling prep I think next week.
"I’m probably a couple of weeks away before I actually put on the spikes and bowl on the turf.
"But it’s been a good couple of weeks. Each session feels better and better," he said.
From Perth, the teams will go to Brisbane before trips to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney in the five-match series.
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With the action taking place across seven weeks, Cummins says he is not adding additional pressure to his recovery by targeting a particular moment to enter the action.
He said: "The immediate goal is to make sure I’m giving myself a chance to be right for as much of it as possible.
"It’s really too early to kind of make some big decisions. You’re just trying to tick off each session.
"With these things, it’s pretty hard to go from not bowling or anything at all to suddenly playing five Tests. The first step is trying to give us a shot at being right, and then we’ll work it out a bit closer."
Cummins added: "I’m actually feeling really good at the moment. A few of the symptoms hung around for a little bit longer than I would have liked, but they’re all gone now.
"So I’m just trying to kind of increase the workload and make sure the body’s responding well."
Australia coach Andrew McDonald has previously said that Cummins would need a four-week period of bowling preparation before he returns to playing competitively.
"You'd want at least probably a month in the nets," Cummins agreed.
"If you play a Test match, you want to make sure you're right to bowl 20 overs in a day and you don't have to really think about it.
"So four weeks is pretty tight. But I think somewhere around that mark."
Regardless of whether he will be playing or not, Cummins says he will be with the team throughout the series.
"Even if that first Test I’m not playing, I’m hopefully very close to playing and prepping," he said. "And that’s where all the physios and coaches and players are."
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