Australia captain Pat Cummins says he will be ready to play in the third Ashes Test against England after missing the first two with a back injury.
The fast bowler sat out Australia’s wins in Perth and the ongoing Test in Brisbane while recovering. He had a small chance of featuring in the second Test, but now feels confident he’ll return for the match in Adelaide on 16 December.
Cummins told Fox Sports he will bowl again in the nets before travelling to Adelaide, and unless something unexpected happens, he expects to be fully fit.
He has a strong record at Adelaide Oval, where he averages 21.19 with the ball across his 309 Test wickets.
Australia have also been without Josh Hazlewood, and Steve Smith has been standing in as captain. Cummins said the selectors briefly considered picking him for the Brisbane Test, but he wasn’t quite ready and didn’t want to risk making things worse.
He said it didn’t feel right to return too soon and put pressure on the other bowlers, so they chose to delay his comeback by a week.
