Australia captain Pat Cummins has admitted that managing his fitness for the 2027 calendar was a key factor in his decision to pull out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
The Test and ODI captain has been replaced by left-arm fast bowler Ben Duvershuis in Australia’s squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka and India.
Cummins has been struggling with a back injury since Australia’s tour of the Caribbean last July, after which he made his only appearance in the Ashes-clinching Test win in Adelaide.
Following his quick retention of the casket, achieved in 11 days, Cummins and Cricket Australia agreed that he would sit out the final two Tests of the summer to allow him to recover sufficiently ahead of the T20 World Cup.
However, a minor setback during rehabilitation forced the fast bowler to reconsider, with Cummins determined not to risk his long-term health. Speaking to AAP, Cummins said time eventually worked against him.
“It’s really unfortunate,” Cummins said. “I’m feeling better, just a little setback and I’m really running out of time. After the Adelaide test, we knew it would be somewhere between four and eight weeks before the bones would recover. Initially, we thought it would only be four weeks, but a follow-up scan showed it would take another two weeks, so the timeline has become much tighter.”
Australia are gearing up for an unprecedented schedule starting in August when they host Bangladesh in Darwin and Mackay.
That series will be followed by a Test tour of South Africa in September, the first since the infamous 2018 ‘Sandpapergate’ series.
The team will return home for a four-Test series against New Zealand before spending most of 2027 on the road.
Next year will include a five-Test tour to India, the pink-ball 150th anniversary Test against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, an away Ashes series, an ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship final at Lord’s on the horizon.
Cummins said he was keen to avoid being underprepared for what he described as a “monstrous” 18-month period.
“We thought the first half of the year was a good time to be conservative because of the size of the cricket,” the 32-year-old said.
“If you get it now, you don’t have to worry about it later, you can go out and play all those Tests. If you’re not careful, if it blows up, you’ll be chasing your tail.”
Cummins, who captains Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, will be hoping to lead his franchise when the tournament begins on March 26.
“We will be guided by my back,” he said. “We’ll have another scan in a few weeks and if it’s good, we’ll do a slow build-up. T20s are a bit easier than Tests, which is why I was so close to making this World Cup.”
Australia head into the T20 World Cup under scrutiny after being whitewashed 3-0 by Pakistan in their latest T20I series.
They will be without Cummins and Mitchell Starc, who have retired from T20 Internationals, while Josh Hazlewood is set to miss the early part of the tournament.
Despite the setbacks, Cummins believes the team is in good spirits.
“It wasn’t our best few games in Pakistan but the guys are coming off a strong Big Bash and a couple are coming back from injury,” he said. “The sensitivity is great. If you talk to some of the boys from far away, they know how big this is and they’re eager to get started.”