Australia's plans for their home Ashes series have been rocked this week, with doubt cast over captain Pat Cummins's fitness for the series.
Cummins is set to miss Australia's upcoming white-ball series' against New Zealand and India due to a back injury. While there was initial concern that the soreness Cummins complained of the Test tour of the Caribbean was a stress fracture, scans taken this week revealed that not to be the case.
However, the Australian Test and ODI captain is suffering with 'lumbar bone stress', which will require careful management. He will potentially not play any cricket before the Ashes begins in Perth on November 21, but there is optimism he will still be fit to play in the first Test.
However, with Cummins having been plagued by back injuries across the first six years of his career, not playing a Test match between his debut in 2011 and 2017, this injury will require careful management. His workload will also need to be managed during the series, and Australia face the possibility of playing some of the Ashes without him, leaving them short of their captain and talismanic quick.
The captaincy issue is easier to solve than the hole he would leave in the bowling attack. Steve Smith has stood in as captain for Cummins. He led Australia in two Tests against Sri Lanka earlier this year, in India in 2022/23, and one Test in the last Ashes series in Australia. In the unlikely absence of both, Travis Head is Australia's former Test vice-captain. The bowling options are less clear-cut – here's a rundown of Australia's options.
Scott Boland
Scott Boland's Test career has been both exceptional and stop-start. He took seven wickets at the MCG against England on Test debut in 2021, and his stats from 14 Tests read 62 wickets at 16.53, with two five-wicket-hauls and a ten-for against India earlier this year in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Given how settled Australia's three-pronged frontline pace attack usually is, his Test appearances have usually come when one of Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have been unavailable.
Boland's chances are also bolstered by Cam Green's return to bowling. The all-rounder has been playing as a specialist batter since his return from back-surgery, but his return to all-round status means Australia can afford another specialist quick, without relying on the services of Beau Webster as a second all-rounder.
Australia already have significant injuries in their reserves, meaning their pace options look thin on the ground. Injuries have already ruled out Lance Morris and Spencer Johnson, while Jhye Richardson is recovering from shoulder surgery. Should they require another pacer in case one of Starc, Hazlewood or Boland goes down in addition to Cummins, they will likely have to delve deeper into their Sheffield Shield ranks.
Michael Neser
Neser was final-reaching Queensland's highest-wicket taker in last year's Shield. Although he hasn't played a Test match since 2022, he was in line as a backup option at the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but suffered a hamstring injury in an Australia A match ahead of the series.
Brendan Doggett
Doggett was travelling reserve in Australia's World Test Championship Trophy squad in June, and was due to be part of their squad for their West Indies Test tour. However, he picked up a minor hip injury which ruled him out of the series, and a potential Test debut. He took 11-140 in the Sheffield Shield final for South Australia earlier this year, which pushed him up the Test bowling hierarchy.
Sean Abbott
Another uncapped pacer, Abbott was called-up as Doggett's replacement for the West Indies tour. He didn't make the final XI in that series, but he had been part of the Test squads for the tours of Sri Lanka earlier this year, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home. He was dropped from Australia's central contract list for the 2025-26 season, having been part of their Champions Trophy squad but not featured in the tournament.
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