Pat Cummins is confident his preparation for his second overseas Test campaign as captain will not be affected despite a host of injuries to his fellow bowlers, as well as his own ongoing hip niggle.
Australia were still determining the severity of Ashton Agar’s side injury on Wednesday after the spinner became the fifth bowler to go down in the space of 10 days during the side’s first ODI victory over Sri Lanka in Kandy the previous evening.
With Mitchell Starc yet to get the stitches in his busted index finger out and only one reserve quick currently in the ODI squad, Cummins will have to shoulder a greater workload during the five-match 50-over campaign.
But the Test skipper is confident his preparation for the red-ball games will not be affected.
“We’ll try our best for that not to happen,” said Cummins.
“There was always going to be some things that crop up so it’s not ideal the amount of injuries that have happened, but we’ll strike that balance.
“Test matches certainly are certainly front of mind even in this series, so I don’t think much will change with what I’m going to do this series.
“This is the best prep possible – an ODI series (that is) high-quality tough cricket.”
In good news for the visitors, allrounder Mitch Marsh batted for the best part of an hour in the Pallekele nets on Wednesday though he appears a little way off full fitness after straining a calf during the T20s last week.
Scott Boland also trained after linking up with the one-day squad having left the Australia A tour in Hambantota and looks set to play his first international limited-overs matches in six years.
None of the three pacemen who played in Tuesday’s two-wicket win – Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Jhye Richardson – will play all five ODIs given the tight schedule of five games in 11 days.
Cummins, the world’s No.1 Test bowler, said he enjoyed playing without the captaincy in his first game in three weeks but has half an eye on the two-Test series in Galle.
He will be closely monitored as he manages a hip injury that he has been carrying for some time and which cut short his recent Indian Premier League campaign after flaring up.
“It’s nothing major at all,” said the 28-year-old who led Australia to a drought-breaking Test series win in Pakistan earlier this year. “It’s just been niggly there for a little while.
“That back end of the IPL it just felt like it just got really sore in that last game. I needed a bit of a break. So in the end, it actually worked out okay, I got three weeks rest.
“It’s something we manage is bowlers always joke about how something suddenly starts feeling good and then something else pops up. So it’s nothing to be worried about.”
cricket.com.au
