Australian captain Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the Adelaide Test, which will now be led by Steve Smith against the West Indies. On Wednesday afternoon, Australia’s management decided not to risk Cummins for the Test, and instead replaced him with Scott Boland.
Cummins had been suffering from a quad injury since the first innings in Perth, and he did not bowl on the final two days as Australia won by 164 runs. He completed light run-throughs on Tuesday evening, but with only a few days until game day on Thursday, it was always unlikely that the pacer would recover in time.
“Team medical staff commenced Cummins’ recovery in Adelaide but selectors deemed there was not sufficient time for the fast bowler to be fully fit for the match,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.
Scott Boland named the replacement
Cummins’ withdrawal means he will miss the Adelaide Test for the second year in a row, after being ruled out as a COVID-19 close contact last year. On that occasion, Smith also captained, on a hurried morning that marked his return to the top job in Australian cricket for the first time since the ball-tampering scandal in 2018. The 29-year-old is expected to be fit for the first Test against South Africa, which begins on December 17 at the Gabba.
Boland has been recalled after taking 18 wickets at an average of 9.55 in the only three Tests of his career during the Ashes last summer. Lance Morris and Michael Neser remain in the squad as back-up for Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, but they are unlikely to be called up.
Earlier, the Kangaroos took a 1-0 lead in the two-match series with their convincing 164-run victory. Marnus Labuschagne, who scored a double century in the first innings, and a century in the next, was the star performer for Australia in the match. The next and final match of the series will go underway on the 8th of December at the Adelaide Oval.
