Selectors eye left-field World Cup approach for Cummins
Scott Bailey |
Pat Cummins is likely to miss the start of Australia’s Twenty20 World Cup campaign, as selectors eye a mid-tournament injection similar to Travis Head’s in 2023.
Australia remain confident Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Tim David will all be fit for next month’s tournament, with the trio included in a 15-man squad named earlier this week.
Chief selector George Bailey also confirmed on Saturday that Glenn Maxwell was a genuine back-up option to keep wicket, if Josh Inglis suffered a minor injury with no reserve in the group.
Cummins (back) and Hazlewood (achilles and calf) are expected to resume bowling next week, with neither likely to play a game before the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
But it’s expected a cautious path will still be taken with Cummins, who was placed on ice after coming back to help Australia wrap up the Ashes in Adelaide.
Head was kept in Australia’s squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup, despite missing the first five games with a broken hand. He returned to star in the final against India.
A similar path could be taken with Cummins, with Australia willing to play the long game with the 32-year-old.
“That might be a similar sort of situation to Travis Head, where there’s an entry point at some point,” Bailey said.
“Hopefully we can manage and carry a squad until that point. I think Hoff (Hazlewood) should be right by the start.
“You might get pushed into a corner where you can’t and you might need to make an adjustment to the squad. We were close to that being the case with Trav as well.”
Australia will likely need to make a call on Cummins by early February, after their three-match T20 series against Pakistan.
Once a squad is locked in at that point players can only be replaced if they are injured, and cannot return to the squad if removed.
Realistically Australia’s schedule and the World Cup format could allow them to play it safe over the opening fortnight.
They have Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Ireland and Oman in their initial group, and need only finish top-two to qualify for the next stage.
Ladder position is also irrelevant, with pre-tournament seedings dictating which teams go into what Super Eight group, provided they advance.
The fact the initial games are in Sri Lanka could also play into Australia’s hands, with the side likely to be spin heavy.
Bailey said Cummins’ scans had not yet shown any sign of a setback, after he was aggressive in his return from back pain to play the Adelaide Test.
“The last scan he got was awesome,” Bailey said.
“The (next) one will show that build-up to the Test and then the Test load itself, whether that had an impact.
“I think the expectation is that it’ll be positive.”
Bailey is also confident Maxwell could keep wicket at if Inglis was to suffer a short-term injury.
“There’s the balance of those day-to-day injuries where a player might just be missing for one (game) versus a more serious injury,” Bailey said.
“(Maxwell would go) pretty well, I reckon.
“I’ve seen him do it. Does he practise it? No.
“He practises it as much as I saw M.S. Dhoni practise wicketkeeping. Which is never.
“But I think there’s a natural (aspect to it). He did it when he was younger. I don’t know if that counts now. Is it like riding a bike?”
AAP
