Sydney [Australia], November 25 : Australian skipper Pat Cummins started bowling with a pink Kookaburra ball in Sydney on Tuesday, serving a massive indication on his participation in the second Ashes Test, a pink-ball match, at The Gabba starting from November 29 onwards.
Cummins had missed the first Test due to lower-back issues, and Steve Smith took the captaincy armband in his absence. Cummins was seen bowling with the pink ball at Silverwater's Cricket Central, getting himself with a weapon that demolished Team India last summer during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, taking seven wickets in the Adelaide pink-ball Test last year, which included a second innings five-wicket haul.
Speaking to Fox Cricket on Saturday, Cummins had said that he was "half-chance" of featuring in the Brisbane Test, while later head coach Andrew McDonald on Monday had said that Tuesday's training session would help in determining Cummins' fate for the pink-ball Test.
"We will get more information tomorrow on what that looks like," McDonald told reporters on Monday as quoted by Fox Cricket.
"Once we see him, we will be able to then join the dots as to what that potentially looks like," added the coach.
Meanwhile, pacer Josh Hazlewood was also seen bowling at Cricket Central, though with a regular red Kookaburra, continuing his recovery from the hamstring strain that ruled him out of the Ashes opener. This also marks his first time bowling since facing hamstring issues during the Sheffield Shield clash for New South Wales in Sydney before Ashes.
McDonald denied that the 34-year-old would be ruled out of the entire series, informing the media that he will be available "at some point during the Ashes".
"We have got a little bit of that early rehab to go through to formulate where he might plug into the series, but we expect him to take some part in the series," McDonald said.
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