Cummins and Marsh out of West Indies Test tour

The fast bowler Pat Cummins will not play for Australia until the one-day tour of England in June at the earliest, after suffering a setback in his recovery from a foot injury. Cummins has been ruled out of Australia's Test tour of the West Indies and Shaun Marsh has also been told by the selectors he won't be considered for the Test squad due to his ongoing form slump.

Cummins, 18, made an outstanding start to his Test career in November, when he took seven wickets and was Man of the Match on debut in Australia's victory over South Africa in Johannesburg. However, he hasn't played a match since then and was ruled out of Australia's entire home summer of internationals due to a bone stress heel injury.

He was thought to be making progress in his recovery and had been bowling in the nets but suffered a recurrence of the soreness last week. Australia's national selector John Inverarity said the selection panel had originally hoped to name Cummins in the limited-overs squad for the Caribbean tour, which was announced on Wednesday, but they were not willing to play him until he was 100% fit.

"No he won't [be in the Test squad either]," Inverarity said. "For a fast bowler to be fit for a Test match there are workload issues, so you can't go into a Test match unless you've had the proper build-up of workloads, and he's not going to make it.

"In his Test debut he was outstanding and he's 18 years of age. We look forward to him coming back as soon as possible, whether it's the ODIs in England - and we're hopeful of that - but we're certainly not going to rush him. He fractured a bone in his heel and we want him to be 100% fit before we contemplate him. That's why we're not taking him to the West Indies, to give him full time to become 100% fit and not rush him at all."

The cautious approach to player fitness echoes how the selectors handled the vice-captain Shane Watson during the home summer. Watson was initially ruled out with a hamstring injury and then picked up a calf problem, and Inverarity was not willing to risk him in the Tests against India or the early stages of the Commonwealth Bank Series.

Australia's fast-bowling stocks showed enough depth during the clean-sweep over India that the absence of Cummins should not be a major issue in the West Indies. Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Pattinson and Ryan Harris are expected to form the core of the pace attack, while Mitchell Starc could also be named in the Test squad.

The selectors must also decide on at least one backup batsman after the decision to rule a line through Marsh's name following his awful series against India. Peter Forrest and George Bailey are the front-runners, having enjoyed productive Sheffield Shield campaigns and gained selection in Australia's limited-overs squads for the tour.

Marsh has been told to start from scratch after he made scores of 0, 3, 0, 11, 3 and 0 against India, and he has managed only one half-century in five innings for Western Australia since his axing. Inverarity said Marsh might benefit from some time in county cricket over the winter, but whatever he decides to do, he won't be in Australia's plans in the immediate future.

"I've had that conversation with Shaun and said he won't come in contention for the tour of the West Indies," Inverarity said. "Shaun, as we're all aware, has had rather a traumatic time. I was speaking to Shaun just the other day and he needs to rebuild himself. It's not going to happen overnight. He had a really deep trough there.

"He needs to go back to interstate cricket and during the winter months maybe the prospect of playing something in England. But it's not an overnight rebuild with Shaun. We hope he comes back as good as ever, in form, but it's not going to be in the next month or two."