Pat Cummins Eyes T20 World Cup After Ashes Cameo: 'Coming Back From Back Injury...'

Australia Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins recently made a short and successful return to competitive cricket following a back injury. Cummins missed Australia’s first two Tests of the ongoing Ashes series

at home but played at the Adelaide Oval where his six wickets played a key role in the home team taking a series-clinching 3-0 lead over England.

Despite that, Cummins was ruled out from the remaining two Tests to avoid any risks with the Ashes already in the bag. Now, the 32-year-old is looking forward to the T20 World Cup in February-March.

“Feeling good, so got through Adelaide unscathed, so pretty happy,” Cummins said on Channel 7 during the lunch break on the first day of the Boxing Day Test that got underway at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.

“As of a few weeks ago, I was still coming back from a back injury so playing back-to-back Test matches was pretty high risk. Cool our heels for a little bit with the T20 World Cup next month,” he added.

Cummins’ statement comes right after Australia head coach Andrew McDonald had said the fast bowler isn’t a certainty for the T20 World Cup that will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

Long Injury Layoff For Nathan Lyon

Cummins also confirmed that off-spinner Nathan Lyon will be out of action for a significant period after undergoing surgery for an injury he suffered during the Adelaide Test earlier this month.

“He (Lyon) had surgery a couple of days ago, so he’ll have a lengthy layoff, I don’t know exactly, but it will be at least a few months,” Cummins said.

“Bit of a long road ahead for him, but he’s done it before so hopefully he’ll be back. It was a big one, so surgery, and he has his crutches in the change room at the moment, so we wish him the best… it was a shame but he put a brave face after the Test,” he added.