Australia’s Test captain Pat Cummins will not participate in the upcoming white-ball series against South Africa, choosing instead to focus on his fitness for the home Ashes series later this year. Cummins had already been rested for the T20I series against the West Indies, along with Mitchell Starc and Travis Head.
Now, Josh Hazlewood, who was originally part of the South Africa squad, will also return home after the Test series, with Xavier Bartlett named as his replacement. While Hazlewood is expected to play the white-ball matches in Darwin, Cairns, and Mackay, Cummins has opted for a fitness program to prepare for Australia’s home summer.
Cummins is planning to make a return during the T20I tour of New Zealand in early October. He is also hoping to feature in some limited-overs matches against India before the Ashes begin in November. There is a possibility he could play a Sheffield Shield game for New South Wales, which he had skipped last year before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Pat Cummins explained, “I’ll have a good training block for the next couple of months, six weeks or so. Probably not bowling, but lots of gym work. (My) body feels pretty good, but there’s always little bits and pieces you’re always trying to get right and then build up for the summer. So it’ll probably look like white-ball (cricket)…we’ve got some (matches against) New Zealand, India, potentially a Shield game and then into the home summer.”
ODI Captaincy and Domestic Build-Up
Although Cummins remains Australia’s official ODI captain, he has only led the side twice since the 2023 World Cup final. He missed the Champions Trophy earlier this year due to an ankle issue that troubled him during the Test series against India.
With the Ashes in sight, the early rounds of the Sheffield Shield are expected to be crucial in selecting Australia’s final Test squad. Players like Sam Konstas and Usman Khawaja will be watched closely. “There’s a lot of Shield cricket to come and some Aussie A stuff as well,” Cummins noted. “I think (if) you do well at Test level, any time it’s going to kind of make your case more compelling.”
Squad Changes and Young Talent Spotlight
Xavier Bartlett, recently awarded a central contract, will look to build on his strong T20I performance—11 wickets at an average of 14.72 from seven matches. He also impressed in Major League Cricket with the San Francisco Unicorns.
Jake Fraser McGurk has joined the squad as a late addition, replacing Spencer Johnson due to back soreness. Fraser McGurk, who also played in the MLC, has had an inconsistent run, scoring just 113 runs in seven T20Is. The five-match T20I series against West Indies begins July 20 at Sabina Park and continues in St Kitts.
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