Cummins ramps up bowling with eye on second Test

Pat Cummins has ramped up his bowling at New South Wales training as the Australia captain aims to be fit for the second Test of the Ashes.

Already ruled out of the eagerly anticipated opener in Perth, starting on November 21, Cummins is shaping as a genuine chance to feature in the day-night Test at the Gabba.

Cummins this week conceded playing unchanged from the second Test until the end of the series was unlikely given he is recovering from stress in his back.

Cummins put in a solid session at the SCG on Saturday as NSW prepare to host Victoria in the Sheffield Shield, starting Monday. Hewas sending balls down at full pace in the nets in an encouraging sign.

Australia will go into the first Test with Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Boland, with all three to play in the Shield before heading to Perth.

When Australia's squad was released this week, the English press predictably labelled it "Dad's Army" given Cameron Green is the only one out of the 15 players aged under 30. But Hazlewood was adamant Australia's experience is a strength, not a weakness.

"We bounce off each other out there and know each other's game so well and help each other out there," he told reporters in Sydney on Saturday. "There'll come a time no doubt [when the team is too old], but I don't think it's yet.

"We've been together a long time, taken a heap of wickets, but the times off the field as well have been so great.We know each other so well, so we can pull each other up from time to time when the rhythm's not quite there."

Hazlewood approaches the start of the Ashes on 295 Test wickets. When he almost certainly gets to the milestone, Hazlewood will join the other three long-serving members of the Australian team - Starc, Cummins and Nathan Lyon - to have taken 300 wickets.

But he quick insists he is genuinely not even thinking about the five more wickets he needs. When Hazlewood hasn't been injured his form has been consistently outstanding. His four Tests this year have yielded 16 wickets, while also dominating in white-ball cricket.

"I feel in the best shape I've been in a long time," Hazlewood said. "Over the last four of five years, I've had a lot of confidence.My numbers suggest that. Just staying on the park, probably since Covid [pandemic], has been hard."

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