Pat Cummins Out Of Ashes? Australia's Head Coach Gives Big Update On Test Captain

Amid uncertainty over Pat Cummins’ participation in the 2025-26 edition of the Ashes series, which is set to start on November 21 at Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald has provided

a big update about the Test captain. According to McDonald, even though there are serious doubts over Cummins’ availability for the series opener in Perth, he is still holding hope that Cummins can feature in the Perth Test should he make a return to the bowling crease at training within the next 10 days.

Cummins is out of action these days due to a back injury. The back injury has prevented him from bowling since July, and he only returned to running earlier this month.

“Myself and Patty have spoken about that type of timeframe,” McDonald was quoted as saying by ICC.

“Or else you start to bring in other risk factors. A: You’re not skill-ready, or B: Soft tissue injuries then become a real risk.”

“And if you were to do a soft tissue injury early in a series like the Ashes, then it’s a long way back from where he’s been. So we’ll be mindful of all those risk factors.”

“There are some positive signs speaking to Patty over the last few days. He’s a lot more optimistic. Those who have been through this type of injury (say) these things ebb and flow”, McDonald noted.

“A couple of weeks ago, did he think he was a chance (to play in Perth)? Potentially not; he was a little bit sore. Then you flip it forward two weeks, and there’s a lot more positivity. We’ve still got a little bit to go.

“One of the benefits with Patty is that he has had the ability to prepare for Test matches off shortened preparations. So if it was to be shrunken down, we’d be very confident that he would still be able to perform in the first Test.

“But the reality is, we’re starting to get tight in terms of the times. We’re still optimistic and hopeful, but this time next week, I think we’ll be in a position to get a better gauge on where he’s at.”

If Cummins misses out then Steve Smith will captain the Australian team in the first Test of Ashes series and Scott Boland will replace him in the playing XI.