Cummins makes tentative return to bowling in Ashes fitness race
The Australia captain went through his action off about five paces at Cricket Central in Sydney
AAP
29-Oct-2025
Ashes race: the second Test is now the earliest Pat Cummins will play • Getty Images
Pat Cummins has made a tentative return to bowling as Australia's Test captain accelerates his bid to play in the Ashes.
Cummins bowled off a five-step run-up in a brief net session in Sydney on Wednesday. Australia's captain has been ruled of out of the first Test against England starting on November 21 in Perth.
But Cummins, who has said he would need four to six weeks of bowling before returning to match action, hopes to return in the middle sector of the five-Test series.
The second Test in Brisbane starts on December 4 and the third Test in Adelaide on December 17.
Cummins bowled off a short run-up at Cricket New South Wales' Silverwater headquarters on Wednesday, watched by renowned physio Patrick Farhart and the Blues' strength and conditioning coach, Dean McNamara.
His bowling return came two days after Australia coach Andrew McDonald expressed hope Cummins could prove his fitness for the second Test.
"We flagged this a week or so ago, that it would take sort of four-plus weeks to get him up and running," McDonald told reporters on Monday. "We've run out of time [for the first Test] unfortunately, but really optimistic and hopeful for the second Test match.
"The next question is, what's the time frame, what does it look like for the second Test? [I am] 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."
Cummins last played in mid-July on Australia's Test tour of the West Indies. He reported back soreness after returning to Australia and was diagnosed with a lumbar stress injury in September.
McDonald said how Cummins recovered from his return to bowling would be vital.
"We will see how he pulls up and then we'll make decisions moving forward," he said. "With the nature of this injury, it's never going to be a clear time frame ... I would never put the medical team under that sort of duress either."