Australia pace spearhead Mitchell Starc feels that Pat Cummins has recovered well from the injury and will be happy to have him available to play as soon as possible. Starc remarked that Cummins' condition is looking positive, adding that the 32-year-old was looking "sharp" during the recent training session in Perth where the Ashes opener will be played.
“Can we get him in this week? Yeah, I think so. Probably understand why he doesn't train much, because when he does he makes us all look silly. No he was really, sharp the other day and, sounds like he's pulling up pretty well so very positive signs,” Starc said in a media interaction.
Cummins expected to be back soon
Cummins recently completed a high-intensity training session ahead of the Ashes opener. He was bowling to Marnus Labuschagne and clocked speeds of over 140 km/h on numerous occasions. Though the pacer has been on the sidelines for quite some time now and has missed many assignments for the Baggy Greens already, it is expected that he will back in the playing XI for the second Ashes Test that will be played in Brisbane from December 4.
Australia missing multiple key players for st Test
Cummins won't be the only notable player whom Australia will be without for the first Ashes Test. Josh Hazlewood has also been ruled out from the series opener due to a hamstring strain and Sean Abbott is also unavailable due to injury. In their place, Brendan Doggett is expected to make his Test debut for the side, leading Australia's pace attack alongside both Starc and Scott Boland. Though injuries have made Australia's bowling lineup significantly weaker, it still won't be an easy task for England to defeat the hosts in the first Test.
England's squad for 1st Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith, Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir.
Australia's squad for 1st Test: Steve Smith (c), Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Jake Weatherald, Cameron Green, Beau Webster, Michael Neser, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc.