Key Points

Cummins faced a massive setback after his Ashes preparations were compromised when a scan revealed lumbar bone stress in his lower back, forcing him to sit out on the white-ball series against New Zealand and India.

Since returning home after the tour of the Caribbean, the 32-year-old has been restricted to light duties in the gym and will refrain from running or bowling and hopes that his bone stress settles in time.

The nature of injury is something that Cummins is well aware of, considering it haunted him in the first six years of his international journey. If Cummins pushes his return too early, there is a chance that it could develop into a stress fracture.

Cummins is yet to identify his return date to bowling duties, with the medics set to reassess him in one month's time. Despite the associated risks, Cummins is willing to take it to avoid the prospect of missing one of Australia's biggest sporting events.

"I'm never going to go into a Test match unless you think you can finish the Test match. But when you're 18 or 19, you're like, Let's make sure this is the perfect rehab, whether it takes an extra six months," Cummins told cricket.com.au.

"Whereas, I'm happy to be a bit like, well, it's an Ashes series, whatever it takes to play it. Then, say, at the end, if you're still not 100 per cent and you need to, then have a bit of a break next year ... there's not another Ashes series," he added.

Cummins believes even if he misses his shot at playing a couple of games during the buildup to the oldest rivalry in cricket, he will be able to get up to his speed quickly.

"I think you're willing to take a few risks and be a little bit aggressive to try and play as much Tests as you can. At this stage of my career, I feel like I can probably get up to speed a bit quicker than when I was 18 or 19," Cummins said while speaking to reporters on Wednesday.

"Back then you probably feel like you need to play a few Shield games or one-dayers. I'm pretty confident even if I don't get a chance to play a Shield game, I can get up to speed pretty quickly," he added.

While it remains difficult to pinpoint what triggered his injury, Cummins hinted at the possibility of the hard yards he put in during the World Test Championship final defeat against South Africa at Lord's earlier this year.

Cummins toiled for 35.1 overs during the contest that lasted for four days. His work rate was two-thirds of the number of balls he had bowled for Sunrisers Hyderabad during the preceding Indian Premier League (IPL).

"Sometimes you might just get unlucky and bowl a lot of overs in, say, the World Test Championship final, and that's enough to kind of start it," he said.

"Through the West Indies, I felt like maybe it was a little bit sore, but nothing abnormal for fast bowlers, you've always got some niggles. Once you get home and everything settles down, it just hung around a little bit," he added.

During the three Tests in the Caribbean, his bowling rate was significantly lower than usual. He sat out of the five T20Is against the West Indies and both white-ball series against South Africa.

In each of the last three years, Cummins has bowled 400-plus overs. However, in nine months of 2025, he has managed 175.1 overs, indicating a significant drop in his workload.

- ANI