Preview: Australia captain Pat Cummins will not play in the second Ashes Test against England after being deemed a close contact of a person who returned a positive Covid-19 test.
Less than three hours before the toss for the day-night Test at Adelaide Oval on Thursday, Cricket Australia said in a statement that Cummins was dining in a restaurant Wednesday night and had not breached any biosecurity protocols. He isolated as soon as he became aware of the situation and has since had a COVID-19 test, which was negative.
Cricket Australia said South Australia (state) Health confirmed that Cummins was a close contact and will be required to isolate for seven days. It said Cummins should be available for the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground starting 26 December.
“Cummins is understandably very disappointed not to be able to captain Australia,” the statement said.
Vice-captain Steve Smith will captain the team in Cummins’ absence. Michael Neser comes into the playing XI to replace Cummins and make his Test debut, with Travis Head vice-captain.
It will be Smith’s first appearance as captain since the Cape Town, South Africa ball-tampering scandal in 2018 which cost him the captaincy and a subsequent two-year leadership ban.
Cricket Australia said fellow Australia bowlers Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon were dining at the same restaurant as Cummins but at a separate table outdoors. SA Health said they casual contacts and they are free to play.
Cummins’ absence along with that of injured Josh Hazlewood is a big blow to Australia after Hazlewood, the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, claimed a five-wicket haul in Australia’s series-opening nine-wicket win at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Australia are a perfect eight from eight as they go into the pink-ball Test against England.
David Warner had a few reprieves on his way to scoring 94 runs in the series-opener at the Gabba in Brisbane, where Australia beat England by nine wickets.
But after taking two hits in the ribs while batting, Warner didn’t field for Australia in England’s second innings. He still appeared to be in discomfort while batting in practice at Adelaide, but on Wednesday Cummins said Warner “will be right.”
“If he thought he couldn’t be as good as he normally is, he wouldn’t be playing,” added Cummins.
Cummins also confirmed that right-arm paceman Jhye Richardson will return to the Test lineup for the first time since February 2019 to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood in the only change for Australia.
While Australia’s record in day-night Tests is perfect, England has just one win in four attempts. The win came in its first day-nighter at home against West Indies in 2017.
England will get two chances with the pink ball in this series — the fifth Test in Hobart, which was moved from Perth because of COVID-19 restrictions in Western Australia, will also be a day nighter.
All options means veteran pace bowlers Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad are back in the 12-man squad after missing the first Test at the Gabba. Both were reported to be fit in Brisbane, but England went for a different combination with a view to rotating its attack through the five-Test series.
The 39-year-old Anderson, who claimed his first five-wicket haul in Australia in the corresponding day-night Test four years ago, was add to the 12 on Wednesday and Mark Wood was rested.
England has lost 10 of its last 11 Tests in Australia, and has not won a match Down Under since a victorious tour of 2010-11. And to make matters more difficult, no England team has recovered to win an Ashes series in Australia after losing the first Test since captain Len Hutton’s squad in 1954-55.
TEAMS:
Australia XI: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (captain), Nathan Lyon, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc.
England (squad): Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (captain), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson, Jack Leach.