Cummins ruled out of Ashes as 'freak' Starc soldiers on

Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the rest of the Ashes series but coach Andrew McDonald insists Mitchell Starc, who Australia's medical staff have labelled a physical "freak", will be right for the Boxing Day Test.

The Aussies are now weighing up whether Cummins will be considered for February's T20 World Cup after shutting down their Test captain for the home summer having sewn up the Ashes in Adelaide last week.

Scott Boland is on track to overcome a hip niggle to play his home Melbourne Test while the hosts are also confident Starc will be okay to play despite that pair having bowled the most overs in this series.

Cummins pushed the limits of his rehabilitation from a back stress injury to return in Adelaide. After taking six wickets and captaining Australia to a series victory, Australia are now putting the 32-year-old on ice.

"He won't play any part in the rest of the series," McDonald told reporters on Tuesday.

"That was a discussion that we had a long time out around his return. Yeah, we were taking on some risk. We've now won the series, and that was the goal.

"To position him for further risk and jeopardise him long term is not something that we want to do.

"Pat's really comfortable with that. If he had any setback in the build-in as well, we would have shut him down straight away.

"Everything went really smoothly, and full credit to him, the medical team and to navigate through that risk profile, to get him back and take six wickets in that game and nail the Ashes series was incredibly pleasing for everyone associated with that."

McDonald could not contain his awe for Starc, whose has sent down close to 100 overs for the series so far but remains in good shape heading into his fourth consecutive Test.

The 35-year-old left-armer, known for playing through pain, continued to hit speeds in around the mid-140kph mark well into day five of the Adelaide Test.

He cracked open England's fourth-innings chase with three late wickets and looks set to front up again in Melbourne.

"Starc's amazing," said McDonald. "He's pulled up fine.

"I don't know how he does it. I walked into the physio room the other day and went through the body count and how we're going and (physiotherapist Nick Jones) just said, 'He's a freak'.

"He's pulled up well, he keeps running in and presenting the pace that he does. There's a lot to be learned around preparing yourself and targeting the right matches at the right time.

"He's given up a lot of IPL opportunities and you're seeing a player that wants to play Test cricket, and he's still at his best. It's an incredible story, and let's hope it continues for a long time yet.

"But he's a freak – end of story."

Jhye Richardson has been called into the squad after Cummins was pulled, while Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett are also pushing for recalls having helped win Australia the first two Tests of the series.

The hosts could pick two of that trio if a seam-friendly surface presents in Melbourne with McDonald not guaranteeing the selection of spinner Todd Murphy, called into the squad as Nathan Lyon's replacement.

Starc and Boland sat out Tuesday's training session, with both expected to have a light training load leading into the fourth Test.

Doggett meanwhile completed running drills on the MCG outfield with a trainer, while Richardson batted in the nets facing throwdowns. 

McDonald admitted Neser had been unlucky to be dropped for Adelaide after taking a five-wicket haul in the second Test in Brisbane.

He also noted Doggett had been used to bowl more short balls in his two Tests than what he does at domestic level. A grassy MCG surface could help the swing bowler.

McDonald paid tribute to CA's medical staff for the decision to send the nationally-contracted Richardson off for his third shoulder surgery earlier this year.

The West Australian has since ramped up his bowling loads playing for Australia A, while he has bowled with good pace in the nets to the Test team through the first three Tests.

"Another really good decision from the medical team," said McDonald.

"His shoulder kept sort of falling out. It was really unstable. He made a decision to have that surgery with a view to coming back midway through the Ashes.

"We do have a bowling attack that has a high-ish profile, so we always need backups.

"He's incredibly skillful. That decision (to have surgery), we're seeing some reward for that. It looks as though he's come back better.

"He's really comfortable with where his shoulder's at. He could have easily played through, and that shoulder might have come in and out, but to intervene back then (was the right move).

"He's on the selection table and we'll make a decision around a balanced attack. It's a really great story, and those that saw him last week will think he's ready to go."

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 (fourth Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, 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