Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins says he is 'probably unlikely' to play in first Ashes Test

Pat Cummins says he is "probably unlikely" to play in the first Ashes Test in Perth as he continues to recover from a back injury.

Speaking in Sydney, the Australian skipper Cummins was asked about the chances of him being ready for the opening of the series on November 21.

"We'll see how we go with the first Test, still got a bit of time — I'd say probably unlikely at this stage [to be fit for Perth], but doing everything we can to be right," Cummins told ABC Sport.

"Initially for a while it was quite awkward, really, I wouldn't say an acute pain, but it gets stiff and even holding a little baby after five minutes, you feel like you need to stretch your back a bit.

"The first step's re-introducing running, then some bowling prep work, so with net balls, then short run-up, full run-up, and then when you want high intensity, you want lots of overs.

"Our timeline's pretty tight so we're trying to condense what would normally take a few months into a little bit shorter than that, but we've got a pretty clear path. It's quite a common bowling injury so we know how to deal with them."

Cummins has not bowled since Australia's tour of the West Indies in July.

Recent scans showed a stress injury in the Australian captain's back had not healed.

Cummins was non-committal when asked if there was a chance he could miss more than just one Test.

"Look, I hope not, but it's probably a bit too far out [timewise] to say," he said.

"I've got a session today, hopefully I'll tick that off, then you progress to the next one and the next one.

"Unfortunately, you can't forecast too far out, but at the moment I'm feeling good, there hasn't been any major hiccups so far."

He admitted the uncertainty about when he could play again was frustrating.

"As a cricketer and a captain, you've got enough to think about with playing well, captaining — to add that extra layer of having to wonder about your preparation, your body as well, is frustrating," Cummins said.

"It's a little bit of a different prep, but I'll still be there even if I'm not playing and excited to cheer on the boys — obviously it [the Ashes] is going to be the biggest thing in cricket for the next few months and I want to be in the middle of it.

"I think after a really tightly fought 2022-23 away Ashes, [it] seems like this one's been building for a few years. So there's going to be a lot of conjecture and noise, I'm sure, but it's going to be great fun."

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