Pat Cummins sets himself 4-6 weeks to resume bowling

Sydney, Sep 10 (PTI) Australian Test captain Pat Cummins has set himself a tentative 4-6 week time to recover from a lumbar bone stress injury, saying he would take a complete break from bowling and do very little of running during the period.

Cummins, 32, has not been included in the squad for the white-ball series against New Zealand and India.

He is also likely to skip the Shield matches and focus on returning to the side for opening Ashes Test in Perth from November 21.

"I'd imagine (I'd want to be bowling) at minimum a month out, maybe six weeks," Cummins was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

"But I've not thought that deeply about it yet. It's still a bit of a wait and see. We've got plenty of time, so we'll map a way back when we get closer." "At the moment for the next few weeks it's pretty light. Not much running and zero bowling," added Cummins.

The skipper had felt soreness in his back during his team's Test series victory against the West Indies nearly two months ago, with scans showing lumbar bone stress.

Cummins added that there was plenty of depth in the Australian bowling lineup to cover up for him during his absence.

"We feel really well placed. A lot of planning goes in. It's not just a month before, it's 12 months out. Someone like Jhye Richardson hopefully he will be available for some of the summer.

"There's (Michael) Neser, Brendan Doggett was part of squads last year, Sean Abbott. So I'm really confident in our depth. Obviously there is a bit of Shield cricket and white-ball cricket before that to make sure everyone is up and raring to go," he said.

Pacer Scott Boland too is a handy option in the event of an injury to a key bowler. PTI AM AM TAP