Pat Cummins ruled out of first Ashes Test; Steve Smith to lead Australia in Perth

The Australian cricket team has been high on confidence after their won the limited overs series against New Zealand, followed by beating India at home in three-match ODI series by 2-1 margin. While the team from Down Under will now take on India in a five-match T20I series, starting October 29, they are also preparing for the higly-anticipated Ashes series, set to commence from November 21.

With the Ashes series against England less than a month away, the former world Test champions are sweating on the fitness of several players, including their red-ball skipper Pat Cummins. It is to be noted that Cummins is suffering from a lumbar bone stress which requires considerable time to regain fitness. While there has been continuous reports of Cummins missing the series opener in Perth, Cricket Australia (CA) on Monday, October 27 confirmed his absence.

Australia remain hopeful of Pat Cummins’ return in second Test in Brisbane

While the 32-year-old has still not resumed bowling, head coach Andrew McDonald on Monday confirmed that Cummins will return to bowling this week with the team hopeful of him making a return in second Test in Brisbane, which is set to begin from December 4 . "We've grappled with it for a little while . The nature of the injury is that you never know and you're sort of taking it a day by day. We've run out of time. We flagged this a week or so ago that it will take four-plus weeks to get him up and running. We've run out of time unfortunately, but really optimistic and hopeful for the second Test match ,” McDonald told the reporters.

"He'll be back bowling this week, and that's a huge step. That was the big variable that we wanted to add in. We're on the journey to that that second Test match, and very hopeful that that will be a positive outcome , " the Aussie head coach further added.

With Cummins out of the series opener, Steve Smith is set to lead Australia as confirmed earlier as well by Chief Selector George Bailey. Speaking to Sydney Morning Herald last week , Bailey said, "If Pat doesn't play, Smudge [Smith] will captain. That's business as usual for us. That formula has worked."

Ashes Series 2025-26 Schedule