Cummins weighs up risk-reward of chasing an Ashes whitewash

The returns of Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon might both have been triumphant 'one-and-done' appearances as Australia now weigh up the risk-reward equation of pushing their captain in pursuit of an Ashes whitewash.

Cummins admitted his side had claimed major satisfaction at dismantling Bazball and proving criticism of their ageing side wrong after romping to their third straight win of the NRMA Insurance series on Sunday.

"Winning 3-0 is hugely satisfying for many reasons," the fast-bowling skipper told reporters. "But particularly because … a lot of the chat before the series was (about) how evenly poised it's going to be. To win it in straight sets doesn't get much better than that."

The satisfaction only grew sweeter as Lyon ditched his crutches and Alex Carey re-enacted Travis Head's turf-kissing century celebration before the Australians launched into 'Underneath the Southern Cross' on the Adelaide Oval outfield on Sunday evening.

But when the Aussies wake up on Monday, the realities of the four-day turnaround to the fourth Test will be laid bare.

As Cummins revealed he will almost certainly sit out next week's Boxing Day Test, it seems likely Lyon will join him on the sidelines in what will be a further test of the extraordinary depth Australia have leant on this summer.

Cummins' absence will only increase the importance of vice-captain Steve Smith making a full recovery from the inner-ear issues that sidelined him in Adelaide this week.

Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland, whose tallies of 95.5 and 90.5 overs for the series are the two highest for either team, are both pushing to play at the MCG despite a tight four-day turnaround.

"At the moment, they both seem good," said Cummins, who suggested the pair will be monitored over the coming days. "Good luck to anyone telling Starcy or Scotty they're going to miss a Boxing Day Test if they're fully fit."

Cummins was impeccable in his first game of cricket in five months, finishing with match figures 6-117 from his 34 overs, after pushing his rehabilitation from a back stress injury to the limits.

"If anything, because I came into the Test match quite fresh, I feel like my legs are still decent," the 32-year-old said. "Sometimes you hang on to some residual soreness from previous games. So feeling really good.

"As for the rest of the series, we'll wait and see. We've had a pretty aggressive build up knowing that there's an Ashes there to be won, and we thought that was worth it.

"Now that the series has been won, there might be a sense of 'job's done, and let's reassess the risk'.

"I doubt I'll be playing Melbourne, and then we'll have a chat about Sydney. But certainly, before the series, it was, 'while the series was live let's take on the risk and have a crack at it'. Now it's done. I think we need to have a chat about it."

Lyon injured his right hamstring while fielding on the final day and was on crutches when Boland took the match-winning wicket. The 38-year-old had earlier been seen getting medical scans.

The Aussies are hoping the blow is not as serious as the one that ruled him out the 2023 Ashes. But with the final two Tests of this series to be played in under a fortnight, the chances of the veteran tweaker featuring again this Test summer appear slim.

"It doesn't look great," Cummins said of Lyon, who took five wickets for the match. "Don't know yet, but seeing someone on crutches doesn't really bode well for a Test match a week away.

"'Gaz' is pretty close to irreplaceable. The ability to make breakthroughs but also control an innings is really important. So he's going to be hard to replace.

"But we've got some guys who have already had a taste of international cricket around the traps. Other guys have done really well in domestic cricket.

"It's been one of the benefits of the Sri Lankan tours, the West Indies where we take a couple of spinners. There's guys that can step in and you feel like it's not going to be too overwhelming."

Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett will now be right in the selection mix for Melbourne after both played key roles in the first two Tests, while spinners Todd Murphy, Corey Rocchiccioli and Matthew Kuhnemann will be vying for a call-up if Lyon is ruled out.

Australia have already cycled through 13 players through the first three Tests of this series and that number could balloon out to as many as 15 in Melbourne if a new spinner plays and Beau Webster earns a recall.

Josh Inglis' spot in the XI will come under scrutiny and others like Cameron Green or Jake Weatherald could be under the microscope too given Usman Khawaja's strong performances filling in for Smith and Alex Carey's success at No.6.

"We always talk about (how) you need a full squad to win an Ashes series, a five-Test match series," said Cummins.

"One of the things I'm most proud about this group is whatever cricket team I've ever been in, there's always been something that goes wrong at any time. And it's how you deal with that.

"This group's just amazing at just cracking on and (saying) 'What's the job that needs to get done? We'll just go and do it'.

"There's been huge disruption with some of the players. I've missed a couple of games, but the way that Steve (Smith) can just jump in (to captain) and it's seamless, other players who are on the fringe can jump in and be match-winners straight away.

"Some of the talk before the series was about the age profile of the team. I think that's one of our strengths, actually. The guys who have come in … they've been the star performers in domestic cricket for a long time.

"Whilst that doesn't guarantee performance, you know that if they do get the chance, they're pretty well suited. I think it does come back down to coaching and hopefully the team environment, they feel like they can be themselves."

While Cummins conceded Australia might not be as aggressive with selection now the series is wrapped up, the lure of a 5-0 clean sweep was enticing.

"Particularly the amount of work I've had to do to get up to speed in Test match cricket, you just want to play everything now," he said.

"Boxing Day is a huge Test. Sydney's my home ground. You just want to keep it rolling on. But probably need to be pragmatic at times.

"The goal is solely on winning this series, so we'll savour this for a few days. No doubt, when we get closer to Boxing Day, people will start thinking, ‘It would be pretty cool if we can go up four nil’, and hopefully then in Sydney, do it five nil."

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Third Test: Australia won by 82 runs

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad (third Test only): Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue