Australian cricket star Pat Cummins has confirmed that a minor setback in his ongoing recovery from a back injury has compelled him to withdraw from this year's T20 World Cup. The fast bowler, who has been grappling with a lumbar bone stress injury, expressed his disappointment at missing the prestigious tournament.
Recovery Timeline Proves Too Tight
Cummins has made only a single appearance for Australia across all formats in the past six months, featuring in the Ashes Test victory against England in Adelaide. Despite a rapid return to fitness for that match, selectors opted to rest him for subsequent Tests to avoid aggravating the injury.
"It was really unfortunate," Cummins stated. "I feel pretty good, just a minor setback and just ran out of time really. We knew after the Adelaide Test match we were going to need somewhere between four and eight weeks to let the bone settle right down before then building back up."
Conservative Approach for a Busy Year
With a demanding schedule of cricket ahead, the 32-year-old emphasised the importance of allowing the injury to heal completely. "We thought the first half of the year was a pretty good time to be conservative with the amount of cricket that's coming up," he explained. "We'll get it right, then hopefully that will mean you won't have to worry about it, and you can just go out and play all those Test matches."
Cummins has been replaced in Australia's provisional squad by Ben Dwarshuis. The pace bowler's career has been punctuated by recurring back issues, including multiple stress fractures that delayed his Test return until 2017 and forced him out of the 2018 IPL season.
Focus on Sunrisers Hyderabad and Future Scans
Looking ahead, Cummins is set to captain the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, which recommences on March 26. "We'll just be guided by my back," he said. "We'll have another scan in a few weeks, and if it's good, then we'll have a slow build-up. T20s are a little bit easier to get up for (than Tests), that's why I was so close to getting up for this World Cup."
Australia's World Cup Preparations and Squad News
Australia's preparations for the T20 World Cup have been challenging, with three consecutive defeats to Pakistan in a warm-up series. However, Cummins remains optimistic about the team's morale. "It wasn't our greatest few games (in Pakistan), but the guys are coming off a strong Big Bash, and a couple of guys are coming back from injury for the World Cup," he noted.
The squad, led by Mitchell Marsh, will be without star fast bowler Mitchell Starc, but there is hope that Josh Hazlewood may recover from a hamstring and Achilles injury to feature in the latter stages of the tournament. "I caught up with Josh a couple of days ago and he's working so hard," Cummins revealed. "I don't think he will be there for the start of the tournament, but he's trying his best to be there about halfway through."
Australia begins its T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on February 11, with all matches broadcast on Amazon Prime Video.
