Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins admits he “ran out of time” to be fully fit for the T20 World Cup that kicks off on 7 February.
Cummins was initially named in Australia’s provisional squad for the global tournament but was replaced by Ben Dwarshuis when the group had to be finalised.
The Australia Test and ODI captain has been nursing a back injury throughout the home summer which saw him play only a single Ashes Test in Adelaide in December.
Once the urn was secured the Australia management decided to prioritise getting Cummins fit and firing for the T20 World Cup but those plans have been shelved thinking about the player’s long-term future.
Speaking at an event as an Amazon Prime Video ambassador, Cummins said: “It was really unfortunate. I feel pretty good, just a minor setback and just ran out of time really.
“I’ll rest up for a few weeks and go from there. We knew after the (Adelaide) Test match we were going to need somewhere between four and eight weeks to let the bone settle right down before then building back up.
“Initially, we thought it might only be four weeks, because I was feeling really good, but just had a follow-up scan.
“They thought it probably needs another couple of weeks, so the timeline just became a bit too tight.”
Australia fell to a 3-0 defeat in the recent series in Pakistan ahead of the T20 World Cup, but Cummins is still backing the side come good when the tournament starts.
The Aussies have a warm-up fixture against Netherlands in Colombo on Thursday before starting their campaign against Ireland at the same venue on 11 February.
Cummins said: “It wasn’t our greatest few games (in Pakistan), but the guys are coming off a strong Big Bash, and a couple of guys coming back from injury for the World Cup.
“Morale is good. Chatting to a few of the boys from afar … they know how big it is, they’re desperate to get started and get into it.”
