Cummins ruled out of first Ashes Test

Australia have confirmed captain Pat Cummins will not be fit for the first Ashes Test, with Steve Smith set to lead the side in his absence.

Talismanic fast bowler Cummins has been suffering with a back injury and said earlier this month he was "less than likely" to feature in the first Test in Perth on 21 November.

Cricket Australia said on Sunday the 32-year-old - who has not played since July - has still not returned to bowling, with the series opener now less than a month away.

Cummins is expected to be able to bowl "shortly", with the aim of being fit for the second Test in Brisbane, which begins on 4 December.

It is a huge blow for Australia to lose their influential captain and premier fast bowler.

Reports of fitness doubts first appeared in September, with Cummins then ruled out of the white-ball series against New Zealand and India with a lumbar stress fracture.

Speaking two weeks ago, Cummins said time was beginning to get "tight" for the first Test, because he needed at least a month in the nets in order to be match-fit.

Cummins was appointed captain on the eve of the last Ashes series in Australia in 2021-22. The home side won 4-0 despite Cummins missing the second Test because of a Covid scare.

He led Australia to win the World Test Championship and World Cup in 2023, the same year the Ashes series in the UK was drawn 2-2.

In terms of the captaincy, Smith is a more than able replacement.

The 36-year-old is himself an Ashes-winning skipper and only lost the captaincy in 2018 because of the 'sandpapergate' ball-tampering scandal.

The batter, one of the all-time great Ashes run-scorers, has stood in for Cummins as captain on six previous occasions.

Cummins' place in the bowling attack is likely to go to Scott Boland, who has a peerless average of 12.63 in Tests in Australia.

Boland, 36, is likely to join Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, both also in their mid-30s, in a seam attack for a gruelling five-Test series crammed into just over seven weeks.

With or without Cummins, Australia are likely to have to call on some inexperienced or untried reserves, with the likes of Michael Neser, Brendan Doggett or Fergus O'Neill possibly in the frame.