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Pat Cummins is set to come back into Australia's Test XI and resume the captaincy duties in next week's third Ashes match in Adelaide, while Josh Hazlewood has been sidelined for the remainder of the series due to an Achilles injury and will now shift his focus to recovering in time for the T20 World Cup, as per ESPNcricinfo.
Opening batter Usman Khawaja is also expected to be fit and ready for the Adelaide Test, with Australia due to name a 15-player squad on Tuesday that includes Cummins as the sole change. Coach Andrew McDonald told reporters that selectors are willing to consider moving Khawaja into the middle order, as his recent back injury opened the door for the new opening partnership of Travis Head and Jake Weatherald, which has performed strongly in the first two Tests in Perth and Brisbane, respectively. McDonald provided an update on Tuesday regarding Cummins and Hazlewood, stating that the captain is fit and set to make his return. "His body's ready to go and barring anything else happening in the next week, I'd be expecting Pat to be tossing the coin and putting the blazer on," McDonald said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. He also confirmed that Hazlewood is out for the remainder of the series after developing an Achilles problem on the back of his earlier hamstring injury. "Unfortunately, Josh won't be a part of the Ashes. Really, really flat for him. A couple of setbacks that we didn't see coming, and we thought he would play a huge part in the series. It's a totally separate injury. It's somewhere lower in the calf to the Achilles region. His preparation will then shift towards the World Cup, which is an incredibly important campaign for us," McDonald said. Coming to the Ashes, Australia have stamped authority in both the Test matches played so far. Led by stand-in captain Steve Smith, Australia defeated the Ben Stokes-led England by eight wickets in both Tests. (ANI)
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