Sydney, Oct 13
Australia's Test captain has provided an update on his recovery from lumbar back stress ahead of the Ashes, saying he is "less likely than likely" to suit up for the series opener in Perth, slated for November 21, as he begins to ramp up his training schedule ahead of his return to bowling.
Cummins has been battling a back problem in recent times and has not played since the Test tour of the Caribbean, where his bowling workloads were significantly lower than usual.
After scans revealed lumbar bone stress in his lower back, he was ruled out of the three white-ball series against New Zealand and India.
Cummins, however, resumed running last week and plans to start bowling drills next week. He knows he is facing a race against time to feature in that first ICC World Test Championship contest against England, he is still giving himself an outside chance of being fit.