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Australian captain Pat Cummins says he’s gutted to be out of the second Ashes Test starting Thursday after being deemed a close contact of a positive COVID case.
Cricket Australia confirmed that Steve Smith will lead the team with Travis Head as vice-captain and Michael Neser will debut.
The NSW fast bowler took to social media to say he was “gutted to miss this Test but really excited to see Neser finally get his chance in the baggy green.
“He has done the hard yards and is a seriously skilful player. Super frustrating but COVID has thrown us all some curve balls over the last couple of years. Will be cheering along.”
Gutted to miss this Test but really excited to see Neser finally get his chance in the baggy green. He has done the hard yards and is a seriously skilful player. Super frustrating but COVID has thrown us all some curve balls over the last couple of years. Will be cheering along!
— Pat Cummins (@patcummins30) December 16, 2021
Australian fast bowling legend Glenn McGrath presented Neser with his first cap before the start of play.
“It’s a huge honour. It has been a pretty intense morning, a bit been going on,” Smith said at the toss after winning and electing to bat.
“I feel for Patty, obviously missing this game. I’ll try and lead on the way he started last week and hopefully we can have a really good week.”
When asked what Cummins told him, Smith replied: “Just good luck, go for it. It’s your team this week, control the boys and just keep moving forward.”
Earlier in the day, CA issued a statement to say Cummins had been withdrawn from the team.
“Cummins was dining in a restaurant last night and did not breach any biosecurity protocols. He isolated as soon as he became aware of the situation and has since had a PCR test, which produced a negative result,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.
SA Health confirmed that Cummins was a close contact and will be required to isolate for seven days.
“We anticipate that he will be available to play in the third Vodafone men’s Ashes Test at the MCG in Melbourne,” CA said.
“Cummins is understandably very disappointed not to be able to captain Australia for the day-night Test in Adelaide.”
Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon were dining at the same restaurant as Cummins but at a separate table outdoors.
SA Health deemed them casual contacts and they are free to play.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Former Test skipper Ricky Ponting on Seven said Cummins was a victim of circumstances and endorsed the move to bring Smith back into the leadership fold.
“Those guys involved last night have done absolutely nothing wrong. Pat’s just unlucky,” he said.
“The boys now with a debutant coming in and a change of leadership they’ll probably just have to rethink how they were coming into the game, or not. They might just stick to what they were going to do but it’s certainly thrown a spanner into the works for them.”
Cummins’ absence along with that of Josh Hazlewood is a massive blow to Australia after the world’s top-ranked Test bowler claimed a five-wicket haul in the series-opening win at the Gabba.
He has also taken 46 wickets at an average of 16.23 in day-night Tests, and was expected to reclaim the new ball for the pink-ball match.
England captain Joe Root said it was unfortunate for Cummins but “it’s the world we are living in”.
“We fully respect the rest of their squad and we know what they’re capable of, we just need to play well,” he said before confirming James Anderson and Stuart Broad had been recalled for the Test at the expense of Mark Wood and Jack Leach.
“They offer so much all the time. It’s a great opportunity for those two senior guys to lead from the front.”
Adelaide has had a rise in COVID-19 cases over the past week, with the 25 reported on Wednesday the most in a single day in more than 18 months.
Players are not in strict bubbles for the Adelaide Test, with both Australian and England players wanting as many freedoms as possible on the tour.
But the Cummins incident does call into question what protocols will be required for the next two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney, where cases are beyond 1000 per day.
Officials would also be keen to avoid a repeat of the cancelled Test between England and India this year, after fears of an outbreak in the India camp.
If sidelined it will be a remarkable return for Smith and one clouded in controversy.
The issue of an injury to Cummins was raised when the new leadership team was announced before the first Test and Shane Warne was the loudest opponent of Smith’s return.
“I don’t agree with him being vice-captain, I just don’t agree with that,” Warne said.
“I think how can a captain on his watch (allow) Sandpaper Gate (to) happen and a player like David Warner, who has got the best cricket brain, suddenly never be able to be a leader but the captain, where it happened on his watch, is allowed to become the vice-captain. It doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever.”
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