Australia's Head Coach Gives Big Update On Captain Pat Cummins' Participation In Ashes

Pat Cummins is the captain of Australia’s Test team, and under his leadership, the Baggy Greens defeated England by 82 runs in Adelaide on Sunday (December 21) to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the ongoing Ashes series. The Aussies have retained the urn by winning all three matches played so far. In his first competitive match for Australia since July 2025, Cummins played a big role in his team’s win by picking up three wickets in the first innings and three in the second.

But after the game at Adelaide Oval, he hinted that he might not feature in the fourth Test, which will be played from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Australian selectors rested Cummins for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG on Tuesday morning, and a couple

of hours later, Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed that Cummins will not take any further part in the ongoing series.

“He won’t play any part in the rest of the series,” McDonald told reporters on Tuesday. “That was a discussion that we had a long time out around his return. We were taking on some risk. We’ve now won the series, and that was the goal.”

“To position him for further risk and jeopardise him long-term is not something that we want to do. Pat’s really comfortable with that,” he added.

As Cummins’ replacement, Australian selectors included 29-year-old Jhye Richardson in the squad on Tuesday, and the three-Test-old pacer could play the Boxing Day Test from Friday.

The Australian head coach was also full of praise for legendary left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, who is also the highest wicket-taker in the ongoing series and has already bagged two Player Of The Match (POTM) awards.

“Starc’s amazing,” said McDonald. “He’s pulled up fine. I don’t know how he does it. I walked into the physio room the other day and went through the body count and how we’re going, and (physiotherapist Nick Jones) just said, ‘He’s a freak.'”

“He’s pulled up well; he keeps running in and presenting the pace that he does. There’s a lot to be learned around preparing yourself and targeting the right matches at the right time.”

“He’s given up a lot of IPL opportunities, and you’re seeing a player that wants to play Test cricket, and he’s still at his best. It’s an incredible story, and let’s hope it continues for a long time yet. But he’s a freak – end of story,” he added.