Usman Khawaja could be facing the end of his international career after being overlooked for the third Ashes Test. Pat Cummins, who returns to captaining Australia after what he called an “aggressive” rehabilitation from his back injury, has kept the door almost ajar for the opener.
Cummins is one of two changes for the hosts as they look to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in this Ashes series. Nathan Lyon makes a comeback at his former home ground, with Brendon Doggett and Michael Neser missing the bowlers despite the latter’s five-wicket haul in Brisbane.
But perhaps the biggest appeal was to arm Khawaja after his return from a back injury. The southpaw is about to turn 39 this week and has effectively lost his place due to Travis Head’s impact from the top of the rankings, and the desire to give Josh Inglis a run as an attacking wildcard at No. 7.
Cummins said: “The biggest thing that changed for us is probably Trav opening in that first Test and how good that looked for Jake Weatherald, so we’re quite happy with that and didn’t feel the need to change the middle order.
“[Khawaja] is on the team. If we didn’t think he was good enough to come in, he wouldn’t be in the squad here. So absolutely, I can see a path back at some point… if necessary.”
The Damascene moment came during the second innings of the eight-wicket win in Perth, with Head stepping up after Khawaja’s injury and blazing 123 off 83 balls to reach a target of 205 runs. Head, who had previously been coy about his interest in the role, walked off the field convinced.
“[Head and Weatherald] has really set up the platform for our innings,” Cummins said. “And so far, the few times they’ve batted, I think you’ve seen the likes of Marnus [Labuschagne] and Steve [Smith] then also come in and really get into it and start their innings well.
“I don’t know if it confused the opposition, but it certainly got that momentum and kept the scoreboard ticking.
“Obviously we’ve had a few openers over the years and Trav has always said, ‘If you need me, I’m happy to do it’. As he ran off to Perth Stadium he said, ‘I think it’s my time, I think it’s me’.”
Cummins was with the squad as Steve Smith deputized for the first two Tests, diligently ticking the final boxes of his extensive fitness programme. The first detection of his lower back ‘hotspot’ – the first signs of a stress fracture – followed the 3-0 win in the Caribbean in July.
The 32-year-old, who suffered from the problem early in his career, revealed that this return has come sooner than expected as the pull of the Ashes series is too strong. A comeback in Brisbane would have meant a restriction on his overs, but with him gone there are no guardrails this week.
Speaking about an injury that first manifested itself during the third Test in Jamaica, Cummins said: “I felt a bit sore. I had an initial scan which showed there might be something going on. The next scan may show a little more and four weeks later I had another one and it just looked a bit more serious.”
“We know the journey you have to take to come back from a stress injury like that. So I had 16 weeks completely off from bowling and made sure the bone healed really well. From there it increases. [the bowling].
“Maybe I’m misunderstanding this, but [typically] this is more than three or four months, but that would obviously have meant I missed the Ashes. So we put together a pretty aggressive plan to be up in six or seven weeks and not have had a single hiccup. I feel better than I thought.
“I know I was asked a million times in the offseason ‘are you going to play?’ and I really didn’t know. If there had been a flare-up or a setback, I wouldn’t have played. But yes, I feel that I have been guided very well.”
Australia: Jake Weatherald, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (captain), Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon Scott Boland.
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