Pat Cummins has added to Australia's myriad injury troubles by revealing he carried a tender left heel home from his momentous debut in South Africa. ESPNcricinfo understands he is now in extreme doubt for the first Test against New Zealand in Brisbane.

Unsurprisingly for an 18-year-old, Cummins showed some signs of fatigue during the second innings of the Johannesburg Test, and even though he recovered to claim a startling 6-79 and then strike the winning runs, the admission that he has a sore heel - a particularly stubborn ailment - has further complicated Australia's selection planning for the Gabba.

Still blissful following the dramatic victory at the Wanderers, Cummins wore the magenta of the Sydney Sixers at the SCG to mark 20 days until the start of the Twenty20 Big Bash League, but it was his fitness ahead of next week's first Test against New Zealand at the Gabba that was the most pointed topic of discussion.

"I pulled up a little bit sore after the game the other day, and hopefully I should be right to go but we'll see what happens," Cummins said. "My heel's a little bit sore but it's nothing too dramatic, and it is not going to leave me out … nothing too serious. There's not really much you can do, you just keep icing it up. It isn't going to be too much of a problem.

"I don't think they will [pick me] if I'm not fit to play. Every game for Australia is a massive thrill, and if you get the opportunity you want to be 100% to go. There's new selectors and they sit down [soon] to talk, but I'm not sure of what's going to happen and there's a few other fast bowlers in a bit of doubt, so hopefully everyone's fit and it's a long summer ahead so there's plenty of games to go."

Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh and Ryan Harris were already in various states of doubt for the match, and the newly-formed selection panel led by national selector John Inverarity is now likely to name its squad on Saturday or Sunday having taken further time to settle on a team.

Of all the players at the selectors' disposal, Cummins is perhaps the most outstanding prospect for the future but also the cricketer in need of the most careful management, so as to not let his fire burn out too early.

"With any player they've got to be well managed and being a bit younger it is probably even more important," Cummins said. "So it is great that they're trying to look after me and all the young guys and we'll see what happens.

"I'm still fairly young, and a few people have told me that while you're young you're looked after a bit better. Hopefully that's the case, but I don't feel too much expectation or pressure going into the games and try to keep it relaxed and don't take it for granted."

Though the youngest member of the Australian side, Cummins bowled like the most senior member of the attack in Johannesburg, adapting to the wide variety of scenarios and batsmen he faced. This was demonstrated best by a sustained and hostile spell to claim the critical wicket of Jacques Kallis early in the second innings.

"Test cricket and Sheffield Shield cricket you've really got to temper your bowling," Cummins said. "If you try to go 100 per cent the whole time you're going to fall over, so it is all about trying to play to the conditions and try to do what you think is most effective. [Doing what the batsman likes least] is always the aim.

"Kallis is a great player and someone I've probably looked up to coming through, he's a great competitor, over 12,000 Test runs and however many wickets he's got, to be able to just [compete with] him is unreal and to tear in and try to get his head off is a big thrill as well."