Follow UsAustralia captain Pat Cummins injured his wrist during the final Ashes Test against England at The Oval and will learn the extent of the issue in the coming days. Cummins played with a heavily strapped left wrist and looked to be in a bit of discomfort when he was batting as well.
Cummins will have three weeks to rest until Australia's next assignment - a T20 International (T20I) series against South Africa - late August. The squad for the series is expected to be named next week, and if Cummins does not get picked for the series, he will have a longer break.
"I landed on my wrist on day one in the field going for a run-out. It's pretty sore. We'll get it assessed over the next few days and work out if anything needs to happen," he said.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc fought through a shoulder injury to bowl in the Oval Test. He was rewarded as Australia's player of the series, finishing with 23 wickets. Cummins praised his fellow pacer for the effort he put in. "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."
Speaking of the series, Starc said, "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."
Among Australia's fast bowling trio, only Cummins, who took 18 wickets at 37.72 against England, has played all six Tests (five Ashes and one WTC final) during the tour. Starc played five, while Josh Hazlewood managed just four. Despite their poor performance at Old Trafford and shaky show in England's second innings, but Cummins does not believe that fatigue played a significant factor.
"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," added Cummins, who further stressed how vital Nathan Lyon would have been had he not picked up the calf injury at Lord's.
Despite not winning the series after being 2-0 up, Cummins believes that this was a successful tour of England given that Australia have won the WTC and also retained the Ashes.
"We just missed what we were hoping to come over here to achieve. But winning the World Test Championship and retaining the Ashes, it's a pretty successful tour," said Cummins.
At The Oval, Australia lost by 49 runs, chasing 384, despite being 263 for 3 at one stage.
"There's a couple of key partnerships batting-wise that it felt like if we just put on another 50 runs or so, it could have turned the tide in our favour," said Cummins, talking about the series as a whole.