Australia Without Cummins for Second Ashes Test, This news actually shook the circles of Australian cricket as the headline has been made public today featuring the captain of the team Pat Cummins who is already officially ruled out of the Brisbane showdown against England. The announcement has been received as a huge setback a few days following the impressive victory of Australia at Perth, and most people expect their captain to be around at the Gabba day-nighter. Rather Cummins will be nursing a broken back that forced his retirement in July and will give up a comeback that now seems more achievable at Adelaide. The loss of their captain and top fast bowler is adding an additional layer of intrigue to what is already developing into an interesting second test at the cost of Australia who have had taken a lead in the series 1-0.
One, his dismissal comes as a result of his inability to accomplish the last phases of his return-to-play programme. In Perth and Sydney, he was bowling in the nets, and his first indications had been that he was following the selection line. But those in charge of medicine and selectors were of the opinion that the dangers of the rush back were too great, particularly a pink-ball Test which was known to impose heavy work-loads on fast bowlers. Cummins will however come to Brisbane on Sunday to carry on training with the squad, but his schedule now changes almost three weeks to the Adelaide Test.
But Cummins is not alone on absenteeism. Australia also are left without Josh Hazlewood who was not present in the first Test because of a hamstring problem. The bowler Hazlewood spent a week in Sydney, but the 34-year-old still has no definite date back in the country, and Australia is again without their most experienced quickie. Therefore, the same 14 man lineup that was captained by Steve Smith, the stand-in, has been selected by the selectors, which under him, took the team to the edge with his command over the team during the dramatic victory in Perth.
The absences notwithstanding, Mitchell Starc has given the team, with the outstanding performance of that character, the 10 wicket haul that won him the player of the match honour.
The same bowling attack presents Australia with the choice between continuing with the same attack (perth) of Starc, Scott Boland, debutant Brendan Doggett, all-rounder and Cameron Green and off-spinner Nathan Lyon. The fitness of Lyon is of interest because he was hit on the hand by Mark Wood on the first Test. Should the selectors prefer to play on the safe side and bring in Michael Neser or Beau Webster, there would be seam-bowling back up that would prove more viable in the Gabbah surface.
Lastly, Australia should take into consideration their batting order. The position of Usman Khawaja is also under fire because he never opened the batting in the two innings at Perth. The second innings saw Travis Head come forward in quite a remarkable fashion as he created one of the most notable Ashes hundreds of the recent years. In the event Khawaja loses his home turf, the door may open to Josh Inglis, who this week was the star in a century against an England Lions team using a Cricket Australia XI.
England, in their turn, have prepared in another way. They have planned additional training sessions prior to the commencement of Thursday, rather than sending the first-Test players to Canberra to have a tune-up on pink-ball. On Saturday, they will start back playing again and the captain Ben Stokes will be speaking to the media as everyone waits to see whether England would draw the series.
Ultimately, the confidence of Australia in not losing the second Ashes Test is quite high despite the headline Cummins to miss second Ashes Test. They have a formidable record at the Gabba, their pink-ball form is exceptional and their depth has already demonstrated to be sufficient to overpower England at least once. But, as Ashes are always unpredictable, the Test on Thursday will be tense, full of chance and a dramatic story in one of the biggest rivalries in the history of cricket.
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