Captain Pat Cummins ruled out of Ashes opener, Smith to lead Australia
The Australian captain has been out since July with a back injury and said earlier this month that he was “very unlikely” to feature in the first test against England in Perth on November 21.
“Our time is up,” head coach Andrew McDonald told reporters here.
“We flagged this about a week ago that it would take over four weeks to get him back on his feet and unfortunately we have run out of time, but we are really optimistic and hopeful for the second Test match.
“We’ve been grappling with this for a while now. The nature of the injury is that you never know and you’re taking it day by day,” he added.
McDonald said the talismanic pacer will continue bowling this week and is hopeful the skipper will be ready in time for the second Test in Brisbane, which starts on December 4. “He’ll be back to bowling this week and that’s a huge step. That’s the biggest variable we wanted to add. We’re heading into the second Test match and we’re very hopeful that that will be a positive outcome. “We’ll see how he recovers and then we’ll take action and make decisions. forward,” McDonald’s said.
“I know that sounds very boring, and everyone wants a time frame and what the risk is with that. There are people who can speculate better than me about what that is.”
He will travel to Perth with the Test team next month.
“Patty will be in the band too, she’ll be coming to Perth… and it’ll almost be one of those things where you’ll see her and you’ll almost be like, ‘Why isn’t she playing in Perth?’ The question will arise. We think he will be placed at that stage,” Koç said.
Smith, who has captained Australia six times in Cummins’ absence since 2021, will lead the team.
“We choose Steve Smith as captain and we are incredibly lucky to have such an experienced captain,” McDonald said.
“He’s replaced Patty six times since he took over, so they’re a good working couple, so to speak. I don’t want it to be a battle or anything like that, but they work well together and it’s going to be a good transition and Patty will be around the group.
Scott Boland is expected to join Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood during Australia’s pace attack in Perth.
“Losing your captain isn’t ideal, but when you’re talking about having Scott Boland replace him, it’s not a bad situation to be in.”
