Pat Cummins finally confirms his return for Adelaide Test amidst Ashes 2025-26, says 'I will be good to go'

Australia captain Pat Cummins has announced his expected return to the squad in the third Ashes Test against the Adelaide Test against England in the Ashes 2025-26 series. The 32-year-old fast bowler's last Test match appearance was in July this year during the tour of the West Indies. Since then, Cummins has been steadily recovering from a back injury. Prior to the start of the Ashes, the Aussie skipper has been slowly building up momentum and increasing the workload on his body.

Pat Cummins hopeful of his return for Adelaide Test

Cummins was reportedly close to making the cut for the ongoing pink-ball Test, but the selectors and the team management ultimately opted against risking him. Looking ahead, Cummins confirmed his plan to complete one more bowling session before heading to Adelaide, where he will continue his process of returning to full match fitness.

"First of all, yeah, I should be right for Adelaide. So, I’ll have one more bowl tomorrow [Sunday], and then we’ll go to Adelaide and have another bowl there. So, barring any hiccups, I’ll be good to go. Body feels great," Cummins told Fox Cricket.

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Cummins disclosed that he was very close to making his return for the Brisbane Test. However, he ultimately decided against it, explaining that taking on a substantial bowling load at that stage might have negatively impacted his overall recovery process and return to the team.

"Relatively close, really. My body feels great, I’m bowling at 100%. The big question mark when coming back from a bone injury is we tend to have a bowl and have a couple of days off, recover, bowl, bowl. I haven’t done back-to-back bowls, so one of the high-risk things going into a Test match is you’re going to be expected to bowl two days in a row, maybe three days in a row, and potentially quite a few overs," he added.

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Who will Cummins replace?

Cummins is likely to replace either Michael Neser or Brendan Doggett upon his return to the Australian XI. Cummins explained that making a comeback during the second Test would not have been fair to his teammates who have been putting in the effort during the initial phase of the series.

Cummins' return is timely for the Australians, who have primarily relied on Mitchell Starc for crucial breakthroughs. With fellow pacer Josh Hazlewood also nursing an injury, Starc and Scott Boland have served as the most experienced bowlers for Australia throughout the series so far. The Adelaide Test, scheduled to begin on December 17th, will mark Cummins' return. He boasts an impressive record in the Ashes, having taken 91 wickets in 16 Tests at an average of 24.10.

"So, we felt that was too risky; we started to kind of game plan. Could we try and maybe bowl 20 overs, 25 overs with ‘Greeny’ [Cameron Green] in the side as an all-rounder?. We feel like we’ve got lots of bowling. So, we really tried to map out a way where I could play, but it just felt a little bit too cute in the end. And it didn’t really feel fair on the other bowlers, or even on myself as a captain. If I had to have a bowler that I was bowling and trying to work out which overs, it didn’t quite feel right it didn’t feel like the right Test match to take that risk," Cummins concluded.