Injured Cummins to have left wrist assessed in the coming days

Cummins will have at least three weeks off and maybe longer if he is not included for the T20Is against South Africa

01-Aug-2023

Pat Cummins contemplates his options as England pile on the runs, England vs Australia, 5th men's Ashes Test, The Oval, 3rd day, July 29, 2023

Pat Cummins injured his left wrist early in the final Test at The Oval and will have the extent of the problem assessed in the coming days.

From the second day, Cummins played with his wrist heavily strapped, and while it did not appear to impede his bowling, he seemed to be in more discomfort while batting.

Following the conclusion of the Ashes, Cummins will now have at least three weeks off and perhaps longer if he is not included for the T20I leg of the South Africa tour which starts in late August. The squad for that is expected to be named next week.

"I landed on my wrist on day one in the field going for a run-out. It's pretty sore," he said. "We'll get it assessed over the next few days and work out if anything needs to happen."

Fellow fast bowler Mitchell Starc played through the pain of a shoulder injury in the final Test with his overall tally of 23 wickets earning him Australia's Player-of-the-Series honour having only played once in the 2019 series.

"Mitchell Starc coming off with a sore shoulder in this game was an incredible effort," Cummins said. "Managing that throughout this game was just a proper effort."

Starc added: "This has been the closest, most exciting and no doubt, most-watched series I've been a part of. It's been a really special couple of months and I'm sure everyone will reflect on that differently but will have a similar sentiment. The ebbs and flows of this series have been incredible to be a part of."

Cummins, who took 18 wickets at 37.72 against England, was the only one of Australia's quicks to play all six Tests (the Ashes and the World Test Championship final) on the tour, with Starc getting through five of them and Josh Hazlewood four in the Ashes after being withdrawn from the India game.

Despite a poor performance at Old Trafford and a wayward start to England's second innings at The Oval, Cummins did not believe they had run out of gas despite the home side having the better of the latter three Tests after Australia had gone 2-0 up.

"No doubt everyone gets more fatigued, [but] I don't think that is a huge factor," he said. "[We] didn't get it done. There were key moments we didn't get right."

The major injury Australia suffered during the Ashes was to Nathan Lyon, who picked up a calf strain on the second day at Lord's. "It's pretty clear just how important Nath is in all conditions," Cummins admitted.

Cummins' next captaincy challenge will be the ODI World Cup in India during October and November. He has so far led Australia in only one series in the 50-over format. Their home Test summer includes three matches against Pakistan and two against West Indies before a two-match series in New Zealand next March.

Pat Cummins Mitchell Starc Australia England vs Australia The Ashes

Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo