Pat Cummins ruled out of first Ashes Test; new captain named

On Monday, October 27, Cricket Australia revealed that their Test captain Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the first Test of the much-awaited Ashes 2025-26 series, starting on Friday, November 21, at the Perth Stadium. 

It’s important to note that Cummins is still recovering from a lumbar stress injury and has yet to return to bowling, with less than a month for the first Test. On the other hand, Steve Smith has been appointed as the stand-in captain in Cummins’ absence. 

Also, Scott Boland is likely to replace Cummins in the playing XI, thanks to his recent hat-trick against the West Indies. Importantly, the final Australian Test squad for the Ashes will be announced next week.

Speaking to the press, the Australian head coach, Andrew McDonald, has also disclosed that the team ran out of time with Cummins, but confirmed that the captain will resume his bowling duties shortly. 

“We’ve grappled with it for a little while. The nature of the injury is that you never know and you’re sort of taking it a day by day. We’ve run out of time. We flagged this a week or so ago that it will take four-plus weeks to get him up and running. We’ve run out of time unfortunately, but really optimistic and hopeful for the second Test match,” McDonald told the media.

“He’ll be back bowling this week, and that’s a huge step. That was the big variable that we wanted to add in. We’re on the journey to that second Test match, and very hopeful that that will be a positive outcome,” he added.

Interestingly, it is yet to be seen if he will be available for the second Test at The Gabba on Thursday, December 4.

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