Beyond Boland: How does Australia's pace depth stack up ahead of the Ashes?

"They're brilliant at home, but they've got question marks over their team. And question marks over the captain [Pat Cummins], the fitness... It's probably the worst Australian team since 2010."

Verbal volleys before an Ashes series are as surprising as the sun rising every morning, but Stuart Broad's response to David Warner's prediction of a 4-0 Australia victory is more than just a pre-series jibe. The question marks for Australia he talks about are plentiful, with the biggest one being over the availability of talismanic captain Pat Cummins.

Will Pat Cummins be fit for the first Test?

The latest update on Cummins' back injury isn't particularly promising for Australia, with the fast bowler himself admitting his chances of playing the opening Test in Perth are not high.

“I wouldn’t put a percentage on it, but I’d say probably less likely than likely,” he said at Fox Cricket’s summer launch earlier this week.

Cummins hasn't bowled since the end of Australia's Caribbean tour and is only expected to start bowling around the end of October. “I’m running today and running every second day, and each run’s a little bit longer and then we get into slight bowling prep I think next week. I’m probably a couple of weeks away before I actually put on this spikes and bowl on the turf," he said on October 13.

Also read: Does Pat Cummins' injury make England Ashes favourites? Here's what the pundits say

Boland to replace Cummins, but who are the backups?

If Cummins doesn't recover in time, Scott Boland is set to take his spot in the playing XI alongside Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Boland had a tough time in the 2023 Ashes in England, where he picked up only two wickets in two matches at an average of 115.50. But his record in Australia is mind-boggling. In nine Tests at home, he has taken 49 wickets at 12.63.

One of their regular fast-bowler trio injured for the beginning of the series shouldn't pose Australia too many problems, but they'll need more reinforcements. Hazlewood and Starc are fit, but they are also 34 and 35, and might not last all five Tests. In fact, Hazlewood has played all five Tests in a series only once in his career - during the 2017-18 Ashes - and Starc has previously been expensive when not in rhythm. In the 2023 Ashes series, he conceded 4.86 runs per over. There's also the chance that England could get after Boland like they did two years back.

Also read: Explained: Why Beau Webster's Ashes place is in doubt, despite exceptional start to Test career

What options do Australia have beyond Boland?

Michael Neser

Neser has been around the Australia set-up for several years now, but has only ever played four ODIs and two Tests, the last of which came in 2022. Last year he suffered a hamstring injury playing for Australia A ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but has recovered since and has started the Sheffield Shield season on a positive note.

In the first match against Tasmania, Neser picked up 4-75 and 2-76 across the two innings, and followed it up with another four-wicket haul in the ongoing second game against South Australia, where he also dismissed Ashes opening contender Nathan McSweeney. Last season, Neser took 31 wickets from seven games at 20.90.

Unless his form drops off massively in the remaining games before the Ashes or he suffers another injury, Neser appears to be the next in line after Boland if the need arises.

Brendan Doggett

Doggett was a travelling reserve for Australia during the 2025 World Test Championship final against South Africa, and was picked for the West Indies tour as well before a hip injury ruled him out. The 31-year-old quick had a sensational Sheffield Shield season last year, where he took 33 wickets at 24.15 for title-winning South Australia, including an 11-wicket haul in the final. He also took a six-wicket haul against India A last year, and played five County Championship games for Durham between April and May this year.

However, a fresh hamstring niggle has kept Doggett out of the first two rounds of the Sheffield Shield this season, which might have already hurt his chances of making the Ashes squad even if he recovers by the time the series rolls around.

Sean Abbott

Abbott replaced Doggett for the West Indies tour in what was Australia's last Test assignment, but didn't get a game. One of the frontrunners to get a spot in the Ashes squad, the bowling all-rounder suffered an unfortunate injury while playing his first Shield game of the season. A straight drive by Victoria captain Peter Handscomb hit his bowling hand on follow through and split his webbing, forcing New South Wales to substitute him out of the match - making him the first player to be injury-subbed in a Sheffield Shield game.

Abbott was not named in Australia's ODI squad for the India series to allow him game time in the Shield, but this injury has put paid to those plans. He is part of the T20I squad, however, for the first two games of the series which starts on October 29, which means he will now get only one Sheffield Shield match - from November 11 against Victoria - before the Ashes begins on November 21.

Jhye Richardson

Richardson has had an unfortunate history of shoulder injuries, for which he underwent surgery earlier this year. He hasn't played a competitive game of cricket since January, but Australia head coach Andrew McDonald named him alongside Neser, Doggett, and Abbott when talking about potential reinforcements earlier this week. "But we've got some good options in [Brendan] Doggett, [Sean] Abbott, [Michael] Neser. Jhye Richardson is potentially coming back around that midpoint of the series."

Richardson has played three Tests, the last of which came in the 2021-22 Ashes in Adelaide. While he hasn't played in the first two Sheffield Shield rounds this season so far, the 29-year-old quick has resumed bowling from a full run-up, and like McDonald mentioned, could become available for selection towards the latter part of Ashes.

First-class records of Australia's Ashes fast-bowling candidates

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