Cummins recovery plan central to Australia’s T20WC thinking

Australia are prepared to play the long game with Pat Cummins at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, with the team open to carrying the pacer through the early stages of the tournament if it allows him to make an impact later on.

The approach mirrors the strategy used with Travis Head during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 where he later starred in the final in Ahmedabad and guided Australia to their sixth crown.

Cummins, along with Josh Hazlewood and Tim David, has been included in Australia’s T20 World Cup provisional squad subject to fitness. While Hazlewood continues his recovery from an Achilles injury and David from a hamstring issue, Cummins has been rested since his lone Ashes Test appearance in Adelaide as he manages a lumbar stress injury.

Chief selector George Bailey expressed confidence that the trio would be available across the tournament timeline, even if not immediately.

"I don't think they [Cummins and Hazlewood] will be available for the Pakistan series [three T20Is in January], but I think both should be online [for the World Cup]," Bailey told reporters at the SCG.

"Patty might be a bit later, that might be a similar sort of situation to Travis Head in the 50-over World Cup, where there's an entry point at some point. Hopefully we can manage and carry a squad until that point. I think Hoff [Hazlewood] should be right by the start, think Tim David should be right by the start."

Bailey acknowledged that the feasibility of a plan, where we see Cummins take the field during the Super 8s, would depend on results early in the competition.

With all of their group stage fixtures matches scheduled in Sri Lanka, the conditions may allow Australia to shape their XI in different ways so Cummins can recover fully in the early stages of the tournament.

"You might get pushed into a corner where you can't, and you might need to make adjustments in the squad," Bailey said.

"We were close to that having to be the case with Travis (during the 2023 Cricket World Cup). It's got a fit… but I guess the beauty is potentially Colombo and Kandy you might be in a position where you can set the team up in different ways.

"We've obviously got some good all-round skills there, some good spin options. There's different ways of structuring up the team where that might work out pretty naturally," he added.

Spin depth forms a key part of Australia’s T20 World Cup blueprint, particularly with conditions expected to favour slower bowlers. Alongside Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell, left-arm options Matt Kuhnemann and Cooper Connolly provide variation and tactical flexibility. Connolly, in particular, offers balance as a spin-bowling all-rounder despite limited international returns so far.

"It's a nice skill set [left-arm spin] over there, and [there's] some flexibility of where he can bat. So if you do want to throw that into the mix as a secondary spin option, [he] spins the ball the other way, if you're going to be using your offspin options,” he explained.

Bailey also highlighted the potential for both Connolly and Kuhnemann to operate inside the powerplay, an option Australia have rarely leaned on in the past.

"[That] is something that we haven't traditionally done a lot of," Bailey said.

"I think both those guys have got that skillset, so that allows you to create some space elsewhere to be able to line up certain bowlers and continue to keep Zamps (Zampa) in his space.”