He last played a T20I match against India during the T20 World Cup 2024.
Australia’s ODI and Test captain Pat Cummins will miss the upcoming T20I tour of New Zealand. Cricket Australia (CA) has taken this decision to manage Cummins’ workload, as the Ashes 2025 and T20 World Cup are lined up.
The 32-year-old pacer recently featured in the Test series against West Indies, which Australia won 3-0. But he missed the white-ball series against the West Indies and South Africa, respectively. The right arm will undergo routine scans on his back after experiencing stiffness since returning from the Caribbean last month, according to a report from CODE Sports.
The board’s decision to rest Cummins displays its focus on preserving their premium pacers’ fitness before the Ashes, scheduled for November. However, Cummins is likely to return to the ODI squad for the India series in October for some match time. He is also expected to participate in at least one Sheffield Shield fixture with New South Wales before the England series.
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Speaking on Thursday, his compatriot Josh Hazlewood confirmed that Australia’s Test seamers will follow different preparation schedules in the buildup to the marquee series.
“The Test guys will play more than one Shield game. Everyone’s on different programmes. I used it last year and found it very beneficial—time on the field, multiple spells in a day; it’s hard to replicate at training. It felt like over the last 12 months, the best way for me to go about it was to just keep ticking over, keep playing, and not have too long off bowling. If I can just stay up there at match intensity as long as I can, that’s the best way forward,” Hazlewood told reporters.
The depth of Australia’s pace bowling department is already under scrutiny ahead of the 2025-26 season. Their pacers, Lance Morris, Spencer Johnson, and Ben Dwarshuis, are fighting with injuries, with no other bowler apart from Scott Boland having played for them in Tests in recent times, except for the legendary trio of Cummins, Hazlewood, and Starc.
Cummins, who is currently the only bowler to take two successive hat-tricks in T20I cricket, has taken 66 wickets in 57 T20Is at an economy of 7.44. Though he has missed white-ball series in recent times, Cummins might be in their T20 World Cup 2026 plans. Australia’s three-match T20I tour of New Zealand begins on Wednesday, October 1.
