Cummins played final Test with a suspected fractured wrist
By Andrew Wu
Pat Cummins played out the fifth Test with a suspected fractured wrist, an injury that has him in doubt for the start of a key tour in Australia’s World Cup preparations.
Cricket Australia will as early as Monday name squads for upcoming white-ball series in South Africa and India, with young NSW leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha and Western Australia all-rounder Aaron Hardie in line to be 11th-hour bolters for the showpiece 50-over tournament, and Test star Marnus Labuschagne fighting to keep his place.
Sangha is tipped to feature in a 17- or 18-player touring party that will form the cornerstone of Australia’s 15-player World Cup squad. That squad does not have to be finalised until September 28.
Selectors may rest some of Australia’s Ashes stars from parts of the South Africa series, with players facing another gruelling few months on the road. They leave later this month for three Twenty20s and five one-day internationals in South Africa, then fly to India for three more ODIs, and official warm-up games before their World Cup starts with a clash against the host nation on October 8.
Tanveer Sangha is expected to be picked for Australia’s limited-overs tour of South Africa.Credit: Getty Images
Mitchell Marsh is in contention to be named as Australia’s T20 captain for the games in South Africa, but selectors will likely hold off any decision on a long-term successor to Aaron Finch, who has retired.
Marsh is also in the frame to lead Australia’s 50-over side should Cummins be unavailable. Steve Smith led the team in Cummins’ absence in India earlier this year, though Josh Hazlewood and Alex Carey have also had opportunities to captain in the past two years.
CA are yet to reveal the extent of damage Cummins has done to his left wrist but two sources with knowledge of the matter but not authorised to speak publicly say medical staff have not ruled out a possible fracture. Cummins had his wrist heavily strapped after an injury on the first day of the final Ashes Test at the Oval.
Though the injury did not appear to have an impact on Cummins’ bowling, he looked to be batting in discomfort, adding more merit to his fighting 36 off 86 balls in the first innings when he batted for nearly two-and-a-half hours to steer Australia to a slender lead.
Pat Cummins had his left wrist strapped after an injury on day one of the fifth Test at the Oval.Credit: Getty
The injury is not expected to significantly disrupt Cummins’ World Cup preparation as the star fast bowler was in need for rest after a heavy workload of six Tests in eight weeks. At worst, Cummins could return for the back end of the five-game ODI series in South Africa.
“I landed on my wrist on day one in the field going for a run-out. It’s pretty sore,” Cummins said after the Ashes on Monday. “We’ll get it assessed over the next few days and work out if anything needs to happen.”
Sangha, 21, is uncapped at the top level but has long been on the radar of selectors, who picked him for a T20 series in New Zealand in 2021 when several Test stars were unavailable on a concurrent tour of South Africa that was scrapped. He missed last season due to a stress fracture in his back.
The NSW tweaker is coming from the back of the queue for spinners behind established duo Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar, but with spin-friendly India hosting the World Cup, selectors will consider the need for a third front-line slow bowler.
The core of the squad will come from the 16 players named for the series in India in March that followed the Tests.
Labuschagne’s spot in the middle order is under threat after 374 runs at 25 and a strike rate of 75 in 17 games since the start of last year.
CA withdrew Hardie from the Hundred tournament in England in a strong hint he is required for national duty.
Hazlewood’s availability adds to the selection squeeze for the quicks, placing pressure on Jhye Richardson and Tasmania’s Nathan Ellis, who has emerged late in the World Cup cycle for his clever variations and changes of pace.