Australia head coach not giving up hope of having Pat Cummins for Ashes opener

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has not given up hope of captain Pat Cummins being available for the start of a hotly-anticipated Ashes series next month.

Cummins returned to running this week as he recovers from lumbar bone stress in his lower back, which has sidelined the talismanic fast bowler since Australia’s final Test in the West Indies in July.

Reports in Australia this week claimed Cummins will miss the curtain-raiser against England, starting in Perth on November 21, and his participation across the whole series is in doubt.

But McDonald took a more optimistic stance, even if he accepts Cummins is running out of time to prove his fitness for the series opener, with a decision likely to be made next week.

“Then you flip it forward two weeks and there’s a lot more positivity. We’ve still got a little bit to go.

“(Cummins) has had the ability to prepare for Test matches off shortened preparations. So if it was to be shrunken down, we’d be very confident that he would still be able to perform in the first Test.

“But the reality is, we’re starting to get tight in terms of the times. We’re still optimistic, hopeful, but this time next week, I think we’ll be in a position to get better gauge on where he’s at.”

McDonald also offered encouragement to Marnus Labuschagne, who was dropped after Australia’s World Test Championship final loss to South Africa in June and missed the following month’s tour to the Caribbean.

Labuschagne averaged 59.05 in his first 32 Tests, with 10 hundreds, but that number dipped to 31, with one century, from his last 26 matches since the start of 2023, leading to his axing.

He has made three centuries in four Sheffield Shield matches to enhance his chances of a recall, and with Cameron Green bedding in at number three, Labuschagne’s best route back into the side seems to be partnering Usman Khawaja at the top of the order.

“We definitely see Marnus as an opening option,” McDonald added. “He’s had an outstanding record at three for Australia. He is doing all the right things at the moment with three domestic hundreds.

“It’s not necessarily the output we’re looking for. Sometimes it’s the way he’s going about it, subtle changes that he has made to his game.

“To see those implemented first up in Shield round one, big tick for Marnus for all the work he’s done. Maybe he’s nice and fresh at the moment, he’s making some good decisions around his game.”