Follow UsAustralia’s head coach, Andrew McDonald, said the management would be “mindful of all those risk factors” while assessing whether to rush Pat Cummins back from his back stress injury for the upcoming Ashes, starting November 21.
The Australian captain is likely to miss the first Test in Perth, but McDonald feels Cummins is not entirely out of contention, having shown some “positive signs” in recent weeks.
"My view would be four, four-and-a-half weeks. Myself and Patty have spoken about that type of timeframe. Or else you start to bring in other risk factors - a) you're not skill ready, b) soft tissue injuries then become a real risk," McDonald said, as reported by Cricket.com.au.
"And if you were to do a soft tissue injury early in a series like the Ashes, then it's a long way back from where he's been. So we'll be mindful of all those risk factors."
If Cummins doesn’t get fit in time, Australia will have to rely on a pace-bowling trio of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Scott Boland, which could compromise their batting depth against an aggressive England side.
England haven’t won an Ashes series in Australia since 2011, and the hosts’ injury concerns give them a potentially golden opportunity.
However, McDonald stressed that Cummins has made positive progress over the past couple of weeks, leaving the door open for a first-Test appearance. "It's a big couple of weeks, we've added some variables into his training in the last couple of weeks and had a positive result there," he said.
"There's some positive signs speaking to Patty over the last few days. He's a lot more optimistic. Those who have been through this type of injury (say) these things ebb and flow. A couple of weeks ago, did he think he was a chance (to play in Perth)? Potentially not, he was a little bit sore. Then you flip it forward two weeks and there's a lot more positivity. We've still got a little bit to go.
"One of the benefits with Patty is that he has had the ability to prepare for Test matches off shortened preparations. So if it was to be shrunken down, we'd be very confident that he would still be able to perform in the first Test.
"But the reality is, we're starting to get tight in terms of the times. We're still optimistic, hopeful, but this time next week, I think we'll be in a position to get better gauge on where he's at."
When asked whether Cummins would play in the Sheffield Shield or for Australia A before the Ashes, McDonald added: "Is it better to get Patty up and moving early in the (Ashes) series, even though he's a little bit underdone, to get into the series, versus potentially finding him a game somewhere else? All those things we'll weigh up with Pat."