Australia fast-bowling spearhead Pat Cummins has said he came very close to making the T20 World Cup 2026 squad but missed out after running out of time to complete his recovery from a back issue.
Cummins was replaced by Ben Dwarshuis in Australia’s final 15-member squad for the tournament, which begins on February 7. The right-arm pacer said he was feeling good physically but a slight delay in recovery proved decisive.
“It was really unfortunate. I feel pretty good, just a minor setback, and just ran out of time, really. I’ll rest up for a few weeks and go from there,” Cummins told AAP, as quoted by the International Cricket Council.
The Australian captain said the medical team advised a longer rest period after the Adelaide Test to allow his back to fully settle.
“We knew after the Adelaide Test match we were going to need somewhere between four and eight weeks to let the bone settle right down before then building back up. Initially, we thought it might only be four weeks, because I was feeling really good, but just had a follow-up scan,” he said.
“They thought it probably needed another couple of weeks, so the timeline just became a bit too tight,” he added.
Cummins is hopeful of returning to competitive cricket during the Indian Premier League in March, but said his priority is being fully fit for a heavy Test schedule later in the year.
Australia have a busy calendar ahead, with home Tests against Bangladesh, an away series in South Africa, followed by matches against New Zealand and India before the current World Test Championship cycle concludes.
“We thought the first half of the year was a pretty good time to be conservative with the amount of cricket that’s coming up. We’ll get it right, then hopefully that will mean you won’t have to worry about it, and you can just go out and play all those Test matches,” he said.
“Whereas, if you’re not careful with it now and it flares up, you’re chasing your tail a bit,” Cummins added.
Despite missing the tournament, Cummins backed the Australia squad to do well at the World Cup, saying the recent T20I series loss to Pakistan was not a true reflection of the side.
“It wasn’t our greatest few games, but the guys are coming off a strong Big Bash, and a couple of guys are coming back from injury for the World Cup,” he said.
“Morale is good. Chatting to a few of the boys from afar, they know how big it is, they’re desperate to get started and get into it.”
The 2021 champions will face Ireland, Zimbabwe, Oman and co-hosts Sri Lanka in their group-stage matches.
