Australia seem to be struggling with quite a few injury concerns in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy 2025. Skipper Pat Cummins is unlikely to be fit in time for the eight-team event.
Head coach Andrew McDonald revealed that Cummins is yet to start bowling again after his ankle injury flared up. The Test and ODI captain was rested from the tour of Sri Lanka due to the birth of his second child. However, his ankle issue also came into the spotlight after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in which he endured a heavy workload, sending down 167 overs across five Tests. Despite the injury cloud, he was named in the squad for the Champions Trophy 2025.
Steve Smith stepped in as the captain for the Test series in Sri Lanka. And he could be the man with the captain’s armband even for the Champions Trophy 2025. Australia’s ODI players who are not in the Test squad are expected to travel to Sri Lanka for a two-match ODI series on the 6th of February (Thursday).
McDonald admitted that Cummins may not be on that flight. Hence, he revealed that either Smith or Travis Head could lead the ODI team in the absence of Cummins.
“Pat Cummins hasn’t been able to resume any type of bowling so he’s heavily unlikely, so that would mean that we do need a captain. Steve Smith and Travis Head are the two that we’ve been having conversations with while we’ve been building out that Champions Trophy team along with Pat back home. They’ll be the two that we look at for that leadership post,” Andrew McDonald was quoted saying to SEN.
Smith has quite a bit of experience as Australia captain. He has stepped in every time Cummins has bene unavailable. Overall, he has led in 59 ODIs and has a win-loss record of 31-25. In fact, he was the captain during the last edition of the Champions Trophy in 2017. Meanwhile, Head is also in the conversation. He has captained Australia in just one international game which was in a T20I in England last year. However, the dashing left-hander has been an integral part of Australia’s side across the three teams and he even played a critical role in their triumph in the 2023 World Cup.
“They’re the two obvious ones. Steve has done a great job here in the [first] Test match. He’s done some good work in one-day international cricket across the journey as well. So, it’s between those two,” the Australia head coach added.
Clarity on Josh Hazlewood’s fitness expected in the next few days
McDonald also provided an update on the fitness of Josh Hazlewood who is recovering from a hip injury. The 34-year-old fast bowler missed three out of the five games in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and was ruled out of the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka.
“We’ve also got Josh Hazlewood, who is battling [to be fit] at the moment. So that medical information will land over the next couple of days and we’ll be able to shore that up and let everyone know the direction,” McDonald revealed.
Mitchell Marsh has already been ruled out of the tournament because of a back injury. Australia are yet to name a replacement for the Western Australian all-rounder. Beau Webster may be one of the frontrunners to replace Marsh despite not featuring in the white-ball formats for Australia.
As far as the replacement for Cummins goes, Sean Abbott may be one the selectors’ radar. He didn’t have a great 2024 in the 50-over format as he took just seven wickets in eight ODIs at an economy of 6.00. Spencer Johnson may be another name that could pop up after an impressive show in the BBL 2024-25 where he picked up 13 wickets in seven games.
