Cummins considered for Head-like injection at T20 World Cup

Australia will consider carrying Pat Cummins into the second half of the T20 World Cup if his back injury prohibits him from playing in the first stage of the tournament.

Test skipper Cummins was named in Australia's provisional 15-player squad on Thursday but will be carefully managed as his rehabilitation from a bone stress injury continues.

Cummins' only competitive match since July was the Adelaide Ashes Test in December, where he took three wickets in each innings as he led his side to retaining the urn.

Australia provisional squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

The fast bowler will have a scan later in January to determine whether or not that match has impacted his recovery and if he will be able to participate in the World Cup, to be held in India and Sri Lanka. 

It has Australian management weighing up the proposition of selecting Cummins with no expectation of playing him before the back end of the tournament, similar to the approach they took with Travis Head at the 2023 ODI World Cup.

ICC rules stipulate each team must pick their playing XI from a squad of 15 with replacements available only in the case of injuries. If a player is replaced in the squad, they can't return. If Cummins was selected but couldn't play, Australia would effectively have a 14-player group to choose from for the first few matches. The finalised squad of 15 must be submitted to the ICC by the end of January.

That was the case with Head in 2023, where Head didn't even arrive in India until after Australia's fourth match as he returned from a fractured hand.

The move proved a masterstroke however, with Head smashing a century against New Zealand in his first match and an unforgettable ton in the final against India.

Fellow quick Josh Hazlewood is also working his way back to full fitness after suffering a setback with his achilles during his recovery from a hamstring strain he picked up in the Sheffield Shield.

Although both Cummins and Hazlewood are unlikely to be fit for the pre-tournament three-game T20I series against Pakistan, selection chair George Bailey is confident they will both feature at the showpiece event.

"I don't think they'll be available for the Pakistan series, but I think that both should be online (for the World Cup)," Bailey told reporters on Saturday.  

"Patty might be a bit later. That might be a similar 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 him in the squad until that point.

"I think 'Hoff' (Hazlewood) should be right by the start."

Bailey was realistic the plan comes with an element of risk. However, he pointed to the allrounders and spin options in the squad as ways around a potential shortage of pace options.

"You might get pushed in a corner and you might need to make an adjustment to the squad," Bailey said.

"And we were close to that having to be the case with Trav as well.

"I guess the beauty is potentially Colombo and Kandy, you might be in a position where you can set your team up different ways.

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

Australia's group fixtures are against Ireland and Zimbabwe in Colombo and Sri Lanka and Oman in Kandy.

Tim David, who hurt his hamstring playing for the Hobart Hurricanes last week, is also expected to be fit for Australia's first match against the Irish on February 13.