Lyon expects Cummins to return in 2nd Ashes Test

• Cummins faces fitness race for Ashes after back injury sustained in July.
• Lyon deems Perth Test return "difficult," targets Brisbane or Adelaide for Cummins.
• Selectors expect Cummins to play a "major part" in the Ashes series.

Pat Cummins, the Australian Test captain, is currently racing against time to be fit for the upcoming five-match Ashes series at home against arch-rivals England, starting on November 21. The 32-year-old

is in the midst of recovering from a back injury sustained after playing the three-match Test series against West Indies in the Caribbean in July, due to which he has missed a lot of international cricket, including the latest home ODI series against India and it could rule him out of the first Test in the Ashes series.

While there is no confirmation about the fitness status of Pat Cummins as yet, his teammate and off spinner Nathan Lyon has given his take on the situation to ABC Sport. The 37-year-old stated that while Cummins playing in the first Test of the Ashes series at the Optus Stadium in Perth is “pretty difficult”, he believes that the return could “realistically” happen in the second Test at the Gabba in Brisbane on December 4.

Nathan Lyon said the following in the interview, h/t BBC Sport, “Perth might be pretty difficult (for Pat Cummins to return), if I'm being honest. But realistically, I think there's still a big goal to potentially play Brisbane [or] Adelaide.” Earlier, Australian chief selector George Bailey spoke about how he expects Pat Cummins to play a “major part” in the Ashes series against England this summer down under.

Pat Cummins has had back injury flare ups over the years

If the Australian captain, who is the premier fast bowler of the team, misses out on the first two Tests of the Ashes series, then he could end up returning in the third Test - a day/night pink ball affair - at the Adelaide Oval on December 17. This will give him a better part of a month extra to completely recover from his back injury, which tends to flare up at times just due to hastened return from players, especially since he has missed nearly five years of international cricket due to it at the start of his career.

“I personally think we'll see him involved in the series at some stage. He's doing everything that he possibly can. That's one where you're really proud of him as a mate but also as a team-mate and your captain, he's really leading the way by setting the example. He's training his backside off,” Nathan Lyon also said about his captain Pat Cummins’ commitment towards the Australian cricket team.