Oz’s Cummins willing to be ‘aggressive’ in rehab to be able to play in Ashes

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 Nov. 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. “The back’s not too bad, it was a little bit sore after the West Indies, so I had a scan (there was) a little bit going on, we gave it another month, had a pretty quiet month to settle it down and I had another scan on Monday which (was) not terrible, but enough to know that there’s a little bit there and I’ve kind of got to be careful for the next little bit.

“It doesn’t feel too bad, but I’m obviously not bowling or doing much at the moment. Sometimes you may just get unlucky, and you bowl lots of overs in, say, the World Test Championship final and that’s enough to start it, but through the West Indies I felt like it was a little sore but nothing (unusual) for a fast bowler.

“But once you get home and everything settles down, it hangs around a little bit. With bone injuries you just want to settle it down, I’m still doing a little gym but no real running, no bowling. I’ll get that right and then will build up to the summer.

“We’ll kind of work back from the Ashes (to begin preparation). I’ll miss the white ball stuff but we’ve still got loads of time, there’s about 12 weeks until the next Test, we’ll see how the next little bit pans out,” he elaborated.

If Cummins isn’t fit, Australia have captaincy and bowling options to cover him. Scott Boland will cover up for his absence in the bowling attack, while former skipper Steve Smith will be the stand-in Test skipper for Australia.

Meanwhile, top-order batter Marnus Labuschagne said he has reverted to ending his obsession over batting technique in a bid to reclaim his spot in Australia’s Test team for the upcoming Ashes series.

Labuschagne was dropped for Australia’s three-match Test tour in the West Indies in June after low returns as an opener in the side’s defeat in the World Test Championship final. He has played 58 Tests so far, but registering just one century in his 53 innings culminated in his omission from Australia’s squad for the trip to the Caribbean.

“My technique, over time, hasn’t been where I wanted it to be, and probably there’s been a little bit too much time and focus going into trying to get that right, rather than just playing with what I’ve got. But it’s been a nice time to reset, be able to recalibrate and go, ‘Okay I missed that West Indies series, how am I going to get myself ready to play the Ashes?’

Indo-Asian News Service