AUSTRALIA’s captain, Pat Cummins, is not giving up on being fit for the first Test of the upcoming Ashes series against England.

Cummins has been battling a back problem in recent times and is yet to return to the bowling crease at training ahead of the opening Test of the summer that commences in Perth on November 21.

And while Cummins knows he is facing a race against time to feature in that first ICC World Test Championship contest against England, he is still giving himself an outside chance of being fit.

“I’d say probably less likely than likely, but we’ve still got a bit of time,” Cummins said in Sydney on Monday.

“I’m running today and running kind of every second day, and each runs a little bit longer, and then we get into bowling prep next week. So I’m probably a couple of weeks away before actually putting on the spikes and bowling out on the turf. But it’s been a good couple of weeks. Each session feels better and better.”

Cummins knows that he will need to make a swift return to bowling at training if he is to play the series opener in Perth.

“You’d want probably at least a month in the nets,” Cummins admitted.

“If you are to play in a Test match, you want to make sure you are right to bowl 20 overs in a day and you don’t have to think about it. Four weeks is pretty tight, but I think somewhere around that mark.”

Cummins believes his back injury won’t be much of a concern in the long-term and he still plans to feature during as many Ashes Tests as possible and lead Australia at next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

“It’s a back injury that I haven’t had for about seven or eight years, and I’ve played a lot of cricket between that,” Cummins said.

“So, if anything, looking back when I was, say, 20 years old and I had this injury, I was a bit worried about what my body could actually handle. But I know in myself that if I get it right, do it properly, when I come back I shouldn’t have to worry about it all. And hopefully I can play as much, even more cricket than I had previously in the last few years.”

Series schedule:

First Test: November 21-25, Perth

Second Test: December 4-8, Brisbane

Third Test: December 17-21, Adelaide

Fourth Test: December 25-29, Melbourne

Fifth Test: January 3-7, 2026, Sydney (ICC Media)