With captain Pat Cummins prepared to play in the next Test in Adelaide, Australia will gain a significant boost after already taking a 2-0 lead in the five-match Test series against England. Josh Hazlewood, a fellow seamer, will not play in the series due to an Achilles issue. The T20 World Cup starts in February 2026, and he will now try to get better in time.
Usman Khawaja, the opening batsman, is also anticipated to be well and available for the third Test, which begins on December 17. The seasoned player was unable to recuperate from back spasms and missed the second Test match in Brisbane. Jake Weatherald and Travis Head batted first. Josh Inglis will probably be replaced in the starting lineup by Khawaja. The selectors are willing to give the left-handed hitter a shot in the middle order, enabling Head and Weatherald to stay at the top, coach Andrew McDonald told reporters.
Pat Cummins will be the sole member of the 15-man squad that the hosts will reveal on Tuesday for the third Test.
“His body’s ready to go and barring anything else happening in the next week, I’d be expecting Pat to be tossing the coin and putting the blazer on,” McDonald stated.
Josh will regrettably not be participating in the Ashes. incredibly flat for him. We expected him to play a significant role in the series, but he had a few unexpected setbacks. It is a whole different injury. It is located in the calf to Achilles region, perhaps lower. After that, his focus will be on the World Cup, which is a crucial tournament for us,” he continued.
Following the July Caribbean tour, Pat Cummins sustained a stress injury to his lumbar bone. McDonald said that even though Pat Cummins hasn’t played cricket in the previous four months, there are no worries about his readiness for Adelaide.
“Pat won’t have any match opportunities, and we’ve spent considerable time and work repairing his body—something we’ve done with Pat in the past, following lengthy layoffs. While everyone else was out at the Gabba, he was out at Allan Border Field. He used several spells to replicate what a match might look like in the real world. Therefore, we believe he will be as well-prepared as possible,” McDonald stated.
“He was much ahead of our expectations. Additionally, it sparked a live discussion about Brisbane’s skill readiness, loads, and his approach. Before that Test match, there was a lot of discussion about it. In light of this, we believe he would be in a great position to handle Adelaide’s challenges, even though it would be a long way off. We think he’s skill-ready because of the nets simulation,” he continued.
India
