Australia’s captain Pat Cummins has been officially ruled out of the first Ashes Test due to his back stress injury, with Steve Smith to lead the side in Perth.

Cummins has resumed running but is yet to return to the bowling crease after pulling up sore on the Test tour of the Caribbean in July.

Pat Cummins is out of the first Ashes Test. Credit: ICC via Getty Images

Head coach Andrew McDonald said on Monday that he was expecting Cummins to resume bowling this week. The selectors are hopeful that he may be available for the second Test of the series, a day/night game in Brisbane that starts on December 4, five and a half weeks from now.

“We’ve grappled with it for a little while,” McDonald said in Canberra. “We’ve run out of time [for Perth] unfortunately, but we’re optimistic abou

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