Pat Cummins made a solid comeback in international cricket at Adelaide and took six wickets to clinch the series. Australia dominated the whole series right from the star and the regular captain Pat Cummins was out of the field for the first two matches with a back injury and led Australia after five months. Cummins missed cricket for five months and also the first two tests of the Ashes for his lumbar back stress injury. The Adelaide test match was his first appearance since the third test against West Indies in Sabina Park in July this year. Right after the comeback test, he was released from the team, and he will miss the last two matches to manage his fitness.
Though he made a comeback in international cricket, the uncertainty over his full match fitness has remained a concern.
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Coming from an aggressive rehab, Pat Cummins took three wickets in both innings and looked in good rhythm. As quoted by ESPNcricinfo, the Australian coach said, "We were taking on some risk, and people who reported on that would understand the risk associated with that rebuild. We've now won the series, and that was the goal. So, to position him for further risk and jeopardise him long-term is not something that we want to do, and Pat's really comfortable with that."
He also added, “ If you look at the... decision sort of four months ago and the journey he went on to get to where he was to be able to play the third Ashes Test when people thought it was nigh on impossible, that took an incredible amount of work from our SSSM [Sports Science Sports Medicine] team."
Commenting on his availability in the World Cup in February he said, “It would be a point of discussion with selectors.”
Injury concerns in the Australian Camp
Nathan Lyon is also set to miss the remainder of the series. He tore his left ligament while fielding and was sidelined for “an extended period.” At his place, Todd Murphy joined the squad, and Jhye Richardson came in place of Pat Cummins. Richardson has not played a test match in the last four matches. Scott Boland is also playing as a replacement for Josh Hazlewood.
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Whether Australia will include Todd Murphy in their line-up or they will go all out with four pacers, it remains a headache for the management.
Australia squad for the fourth Ashes Test
Steve Smith (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (WK), Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster.
