Brisbane
Australian captain Pat Cummins said he is willing to take an ‘aggressive’ approach in his rehabilitation from a back injury to ensure he is fit for the all-important Ashes, starting on November 21 in Perth. Cummins is currently sidelined with a lumbar bone stress injury and will miss the upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand and India. While chief selector George Bailey has expressed confidence that Cummins will be ready to lead the team out for the first Ashes Test in Perth, the captain added he wants to do everything to avoid watching the series from the sidelines. That would be devastating, so we’ll be doing everything we can to try to be right for that and try to make a few decisions a little bit closer, but confident. Do the rehab right and give it a good crack. It’s a big Ashes series. It doesn’t get much bigger, so I think you’re willing to take a few risks and be a little bit aggressive to try and play as much Test (cricket) as you can, Cummins told reporters in Brisbane on Wednesday.
He also backed himself to be prepared for the first Test without any prior game time. At this stage of my career I feel like I can probably get up to speed a bit quicker than when I was 18 or 19. Back then you probably feel like you need to play a few (Sheffield) Shield games or one-dayers. I’m pretty confident even if I don’t get a chance to play a Shield game, I’ll be able to get up to speed, he said. Asked when he started to feel soreness in the back, Cummins pointed towards the 3-0 Test series win in the West Indies.
