Australia Coach Outlines Rationale For Pat Cummins' Absence From Remainder Of Ashes As Doubts Persist Over T20 World Cup Availability

Australia vs England: Australia captain Pat Cummins has been ruled out for the remaining two matches of the ongoing Ashes 2025 against England.

After completing his rehabilitation process from a back stress injury, Pat Cummins made a return to the field during the third Test match of the series against England at the Adelaide Oval.

During Australia's tour of the West Indies in 2025, Cummins suffered a back stress injury, which forced him to stay out of the field for almost five months. However, an aggressive rehabilitation process helped him to make a comeback into the Playing XI, but now again it's confirmed that the all-rounder will be missing the fourth and fifth Test matches of the ongoing series.

In his return match, Cummins claimed six wickets and scored 19 runs for Australia against England. His bowling prowess helped the Aussies clinch a dominating 82-run win over the Three Lions, with which the hosts also retained the Ashes series.

Fast bowler Jhye Richardson has been included in the Australia squad to replace Cummins in the fourth Test match. The last time Richardson made it into the Australian Test squad was during the Ashes 2021-2022 against England. 

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Andrew McDonald Reveals If Pat Cummins Will Be Playing T20 World Cup 2026 Or Not

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald revealed that they have already won the Ashes series and there's no point in taking further risk with Cummins' fitness.

"We were taking on some risk, and people that reported on that would understand the risk associated with that rebuild. We've now won the series, and that was the goal. So, to position him for further risk and jeopardise him long-term is not something that we want to do, and Pat's really comfortable with that," McDonald said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

When asked if Pat Cummins will be playing in the upcoming T20 World Cup, the Australian head coach failed to give any clarity. He added that the decision will be taken later after doing scans.

"That'll be an assessment. I'm assuming he'll have a check-in scan at some point and gather more information around where his back is at... looking forward to the World Cup, whether he'll be there or not. I can't really say. It's quite grey at the moment. We're hopeful," he added.

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Pat Cummins' Numbers In T20Is and Tests

Pat Cummins began his Test career for Australia in 2011 against South Africa. In the Tests, Cummins played 72 Tests and 134 innings, claiming 315 wickets at an economy rate of 2.89 and a bowling average of 22.05. He also scored 1567 runs from 107 Test innings.

On the other hand, Cummins made his T20I debut in 2011 against South Africa. In the T20Is, the 32-year-old played 57 matches and picked up 66 wickets at an economy rate of 7.44 and a bowling average of 23.57. He also scored 158 runs from 27 T20I innings.