Australia`s Test captain Pat Cummins, who is currently out of action, said that he will take a four to six-week break to recover from the lumbar bone stress injury.
“I`d imagine (I`d want to be bowling) at minimum a month out, maybe six weeks,” Cummins was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
“But I`ve not thought that deeply about it yet. It`s still a bit of a wait and see. We`ve got plenty of time, so we`ll map a way back when we get closer,” added the pacer.
Cummins then said that for the next few weeks, he will not run much and will be completely out of bowling.
“At the moment for the next few weeks it`s pretty light. Not much running and zero bowling,” he said.
The Australian had sustained the lumbar bone stress injury nearly two months ago, when he had started experiencing soreness in his back after the “Aussies” had won the Test series against the West Indies.
He will also not make his appearances in the white-ball series against New Zealand and Team India. The pacer will also skip the Shield matches to completely shift his focus on regaining match fitness for the upcoming Ashes series against England.
The Ashes Test series between arch-rivals Australia and England is scheduled to begin on November 21.
Speaking on which player can replace him, till the time he regains fitness, Cummins said there is plenty of depth in the Australian bowling lineup.
“There`s (Michael) Neser, Brendan Doggett was part of squads last year, Sean Abbott. So I`m really confident in our depth. Obviously there is a bit of Shield cricket and white-ball cricket before that to make sure everyone is up and raring to go,” he said.
Pacer Scott Boland, too, is a handy option in the event of an injury to a key bowler.
Additionally, it will be interesting to see if Australia`s star batsman, Marnus Labuschagne, makes his return to the Test squad ahead of the Ashes. After David Warner`s retirement, Australia has tried several options for the opener`s role, but has not found a batsman who can open the innings with a long-term perspective.
(With PTI Inputs)
