The Ashes 2025-26: Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins to miss The Gabba test? Australia coach Andrew McDonald provides massive update

Josh Hazlewood is recovering from a hamstring injury, while Pat Cummins is recovering from a back injury.

After winning the opening game, Australian Cricket Team are gearing up for the second test of The Ashes 2025-26 against England Cricket Team, which will commence on December 4 at The Gabba, Brisbane. Ahead of the match, Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has provided a big update on Josh Hazelwood and Pat Cummins’ availability for the encounter.

Hazlewood sustained a hamstring injury ahead of the Perth test while playing for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield 2025-26. As a result, he was ruled out of the opening game and is also set to miss the next encounter, as per reports in Australian media.

On the other hand, Cummins has been recovering from a stress injury to his lower back, which he sustained earlier this year. Although he has started training, he is yet to be match fit. In his absence in Perth test, Steve Smith captained Australia in the encounter. However, Cummins is expected to be back in the second game.

Andrew McDonald gives big update on Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins’ availability for The Gabba Test

McDonald, in a chat with ESPN Cricinfo, revealed that Hazlewood will miss the second test against England and might return later in the series.

“He’s working through the first week of his rehab. I’m not sure that we need to give an update on that. Once he gets further down the track and [we] have some rough timelines, then we’ll be in a position to communicate that,” he said.

“I know that he’ll be available at some point during the series. We’ve got a little bit of that early rehab to go through to formulate where he may plug into the series, but we expect him to take some part in the series,” he added.

Speaking about Cummins, McDonald said that he is in the completion of rehabilitation and pushing hard to make a comeback in the Gabba test.

“Once we see him again we’ll be able to then join the dots as to what that potentially looks like. But for those who saw him in Perth, I did say this a while back that he’ll be up and bowling…and people will be sitting there questioning why he’s not playing,” he stated.

“It looked like a player that was nearing the completion of his rehabilitation. The intensity was there, the ball speed was there. There’s a lot of positives, but now it’s just really building that resilience within the soft tissue and making sure that we’re not putting him in harm’s way in terms of accelerating it too much,” McDonald added.

Meanwhile, Mitchell Starc led Australia’s pace attack in the absence of senior members Hazlewood and Cummins in the Perth test. Clinching 10 wickets in the clash including a seven-wicket haul in the first innings, he was adjudged Player of the Match. Scott Boland and Brendan Doggett were part of the pace unit. Australia crushed England by eight wickets to gain a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

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