Cummins ruled out of first Ashes Test due to back injury

Pat Cummins has officially been ruled out of the first Ashes Test in Perth due to his back injury but he will return to bowling this week in a bid to be ready for the second match in Brisbane.

Steven Smith will captain Australia in the opening Test against England which begins on November 21. The second Test in Brisbane begins on December 4.

Cummins' absence had been widely expected since the news emerged earlier this month that he had not been able to return to bowling after being diagnosed with a lumbar stress injury in September having experienced discomfort after returning from the tour of West Indies.

"We've run out of time," head coach Andrew McDonald told reporters in Canberra. "We sort of flagged this a week or so ago that it would take sort of four plus weeks to get him up and running and we've run out of time, unfortunately, but really optimistic and hopeful for the second Test match.

"So I suppose the next question is what's the time frame? What does it look like for the second Test? Not really going to be able to answer that other than to say that he'll be back bowling this week and that's a huge step. That was the big variable that we wanted to add in and get that information. So we're on the journey to that second Test and very hopeful that that will be a positive outcome."

How Cummins reacts to his early stages of bowling will now be critical to whether Brisbane is a realistic target or whether a return later in the series will be the aim.

"[We'll] see how he pulls up and then we'll make decisions moving forward," McDonald said. "I know that sounds really boring and everyone wants a time frame and what's the risk associated with it. There's better people than I to speculate on what that is.

"With the nature of this injury, it's never going to be a clear time frame and I think that's what everyone here today wants is a time frame to say, this is definitely what will happen. We're not in a position to do that and I'd never put the medical team under that sort of duress either."

Since the back injuries that Cummins suffered earlier in his career, leading to a five-and-a-half year gap between his first and second Tests, he has had a very impressive fitness record.

Smith has captained Australia six times as Cummins' understudy since 2021, winning five of those matches, including once in the 2021-22 Ashes when Cummins was a Covid close contact in Adelaide.

Cummins' absence from Australia's attack for the first Test means that Scott Boland will likely keep his place from the team's most recent outing in West Indies where he claimed a hat-trick.

"Losing your captain's not ideal, but when you talk about Scott Boland being the potential replacement, it's not a bad position to be in," McDonald said. "Ideally we want the captain available for stability and decision making but...Steve Smith will slide into that position.

"I suppose you get excited about when he does come back, what an injection that will be to the group, a fully fit Pat Cummins returning some stage during the Ashes and that's what we're hopeful for."

Australia's squad for the first Test is due to be named next week following the third round of Sheffield Shield matches which begins on Tuesday. Cummins will travel with the team even when he is unable to play.

"It'll almost be one of those things where you'll see him in work and it'll almost be a question of why isn't he playing in Perth?" McDonald said. "That's where we think he'll be placed by that stage. So we're excited by getting eyes on him in a bowling capacity."