Injured pace prodigy Pat Cummins said he is confident he will be back on deck in time for the first Ashes Test against England next July but conceded his young body won't hold up for all five matches.
The 19-year-old is sidelined with back stress fractures suffered when playing for the Sydney Sixers in the Twenty20 Champions League in October.
On hand to promote Australia's Twenty20 fixture against Sri Lanka at ANZ Stadium on January 26, Cummins confirmed he will miss the rest of the home summer and the tour of India starting in late February.
But the talented teenager, who took seven wickets in his one and only Test against South Africa last November, is eying an Ashes return.
"I'd love to be part of that, that's the ultimate goal," Cummins said.
"I'm not playing IPL this year to try and get back to playing red-ball cricket... so that's certainly the goal.
"Once I get back bowling there's not many options over here (during the winter months) so I'll go over and hopefully play in England, even if it's just English Leagues cricket, something a little bit less intense than county cricket and hopefully build up.
"But yeah, I'd love to be right for the Ashes.
"I think I'd be bowling for close to six months before the first Test so I'll see how I go, but hopefully I'll be there or thereabouts."
Asked how his latest injury is progressing after also missing all of last summer with a foot injury, Cummins replied: "It's a pretty slow injury but everything's on track.
"It's about seven weeks in now so I've got another five before the fracture closes up and then hopefully I can start bowling again.
"I'll probably have my first bowl in February but it takes at least two months to build up to 100 percent."
But even if his comeback goes according to plan, Cummins admitted playing all five Ashes Tests is not a viable proposition at this stage of his career.
"I think even Sids (Peter Siddle) would struggle to get through five on the trot," he said.
"It's pretty demanding, I'd love to in the future but I guess the first aim would be to be available for selection for some of those (Tests).
Meanwhile, Cummins revealed some minor tweaks to his action may be required in a bid to avoid further injuries.
"We've been just looking at some footage and it's nothing too drastic, just pretty commonsense things... I go across my body a bit and once I get the arms coming straight (when I run) most of the other things will take care of themselves," he said.
First Posted 20 December, 2012 6:49PM AEST
