Pat Cummins Addresses The Noise Around His Back Injury, Breaks Silence On Playing Ashes 2025 Opener In Perth

The biggest and the most-awaited Test series of this year will be played on Australian soil in the month of November and December. The Ashes are not only important in the context of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2027, but it will also be the first time when the quality of 'Bazball' will be tested on Australian soil. With just over a month to go for the upcoming series, Australian captain Pat Cummins' fitness continues to remain under the scanner.

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Pat Cummins Breaks Silence On His Fitness

Pat Cummins is crucial to Australia's hopes of winning the Ashes, but he is currently in a race against time to regain full fitness. The Australian skipper continues to remain optimistic over his return to international cricket and he revealed that he is still a few weeks away from bowling on the turf.

"I'd say probably less likely than likely, but we've still got a bit of time. I'm running today and running kind of every second day, and each run's a little bit longer, and then we get into bowling prep next week. So I'm probably a couple of weeks away from actually putting on the spikes and bowling out on the turf. It's a back injury that I haven't had for about seven or eight years, and I've played a lot of cricket between that," said Cummins.

Pat Cummins had picked up the injury when Australia had toured West Indies for a three-match Test series. A routine assessment was carried out after Australia's tour which revealed that he might have sustained minor bone stress. Cummins knows that he is running out of time to regain full fitness, but he is still giving himself an outside chance. Few reports had also claimed that Cummins could miss the Ashes 2025 opener.

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Steve Smith Likely To Lead The Aussies

Legendary Australian batter Steve Smith, who retired from ODIs earlier this year, might lead the team if Cummins misses the Ashes opener. The last time England had visited Australia, they had lost The Ashes 4-0.