Warner says England will win first Test if Cummins doesn’t play as skipper completes running session

Former Test opener David Warner believes England will win the first Ashes Test in Perth next month if Pat Cummins is ruled out with injury.

Cummins ramped up his recovery on Monday with a one-on-one running session in Sydney, but the Australia captain conceded he is unlikely to be fit for the first Test at Optus Stadium, saying he is still a couple of weeks away from bowling due to a back stress injury.

“I’d say less likely than likely, but still got a bit of time,” Cummins said when asked at a Foxtel and Kayo Sports cricket season launch in Parramatta about his chances of starting the Ashes.

“Feeling pretty good, still got a bit of time, so a bit to work through. Start running and got to tick off each week before you get to the next thing. So build up running and start bowling pretty soon, but probably a little bit too early to say.

“You want at least a month in the nets getting used to it. If you’re going to play a Test match you want to make sure you’re right to bowl 20 overs a day and you don’t have to really think about it. Four weeks is pretty tight, but somewhere around that mark.”

Cummins admitted it would be difficult to go from his current recovery phase to playing all five Tests.

“It’s pretty hard to go from not bowling anything at all to suddenly playing five Tests, so the first step is trying to give us a shot at being right, and then we’ll work it out a bit closer,” he said.

“I know I’m running today and running every second day, and each run is a bit longer, and then we get into bowling prep next week. Probably a couple of weeks to go before I’m putting on the spikes and bowling out on turf.

“Each session you make sure you pull up all right. A few of the symptoms hung around for a bit longer than we would’ve liked, but all gone now. So trying to increase the workload and making sure the body is responding well.”

After the media event, Cummins drove to Cricket NSW headquarters in Silverwater, where he completed a light running session near teammates Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, who are training with NSW ahead of their Sheffield Shield clash with Victoria in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Cummins was monitored closely by Ross Herridge, who is a physical performance coach for the Australian men’s team.

The sight of Cummins back running will be a relief for Australian fans, but Warner believes England are poised to strike early if the captain is sidelined.

“If Cummo is not there, I think Australia win 3-1. If Cummo is there, it’s 4-0,” Warner said on stage at the Kayo launch. “I think England will win the first Test if Cummo is not playing.”

Cummins, sitting alongside Warner, replied: “It’s the nicest thing Davey’s ever said about me.”

Warner also called for more on-field banter this summer – though he did not want it directed at England captain Ben Stokes – and could not resist a cheeky jab when asked about the rivals’ contrasting styles.

“The Australian way [will prevail] because we’re playing for the Ashes and they’re playing for a moral victory,” Warner said with a laugh. “There’s your headline.

“I had the fortunate privilege to share a change room with [Stokes] when he was younger and he has evolved into a serious cricketer and a fantastic leader.

“I think if we can not sort of poke that bear and get him up and about, I think that will help the Australians enormously.

“But I want to see some banter out on the field. I want to see them going at each other a little bit – obviously not at Stokes.

“I think that is where the war of words comes out. Generally, it is someone like myself starting it, but I would like to see someone else in that [Australian] camp start something, whether it is [Travis] Heady or someone [else].”

Cummins said he had been through a range of emotions as the Ashes series crept closer.

“Some days I’m kind of annoyed because it’s the Ashes and it’s a big summer, and then other days I’m realistic that I’ve had the last seven or eight years of almost uninterrupted home summers,” he said.

“So I felt like I’ve had a really good run as a fast bowler. Joshy [Hazlewood’s] missed both the last couple times, he’s been a bit unlucky, so maybe it’s my turn. With such a big summer ahead you want to be in the mix.”

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