Pat Cummins is not included in the squad for the upcoming white-ball series against South Africa next month because he is being rested for the Ashes later in the year.
Along with Mitchell Starc and Travis Head, Cummins was also dropped out from the five-match T20I series against West Indies. After the Test series, Josh Hazlewood will be back home. Initially, he was part of T20 squad also, but now he is being rested for future games, Xavier Bartlett has been selected as his replacement, ensuring the squad maintains its performance up to the mark.
Hazlewood will join the team for series against South Africa in the Northern Australia, a series which consists three T20Is and three ODIs across Darwin, Cairns and Mackay. Whereas Cummins will focus on his fitness training for the future games of the home summer.
He is also included in short T20 tour to New Zealand in the start of October and also selected in squad for some of the limited-over matches against India in late November ahead of the Ashes. There seems a chance that he can join New South Wales for a Sheffield Shield match, which he missed last season before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“I’ll have a good training block for the next couple of months, six weeks or so,” Cummins told reporters at Sabina Park. “Probably not bowling, but lots of gym work. [My] body feels pretty good, but there’s always little bits and pieces you’re always trying to get right and then build up for the summer. So it’ll probably look like white-ball [cricket]…we’ve got some [matches against] New Zealand, India, potentially a Shield game and then into the home summer.”
After the 2023 World Cup final, Cummins only led his ODI team twice in the format. He was not able to join the team for Champions Trophy because of his ankle injury, which he survived during the Test series against India.
“[My] body feels pretty good, but there’s always little bits and pieces you’re always trying to get right and then build up for the summer.” Cummins added.
The early rounds of Sheffield Shield season will play a critical role for a better Australia’s Top order ahead of Ashes. Sam Konstas having two more innings in West Indies to impress selectors. Also, Usman Khawaja has to prove himself in the next two innings. Meanwhile, Cameron Green, will focus on making his half-century in the second innings.
“There’s a lot of Shield cricket to come and some Aussie A stuff as well,” Cummins said on the importance of the final Test in the West Indies. “I think [if] you do well at Test level, any time it’s going to kind of make your case more compelling. I think there’s a bit of a connection to the summer, but it feels a long way away at the moment.”
The T20 series against West Indies is scheduled to start from July 20, including five T20s, two games will be played at Sabina Park whereas final three matches in St kitts.
