MELBOURNE :Australia captain Pat Cummins has eased back into bowling in his rehabilitation from a lower-back injury as he scrambles to be fit for the second Ashes test against England.

Cummins was ruled out of the series-opener in Perth starting on November 21 but hopes to be available for the following match in Brisbane two weeks later.

The 32-year-old paceman bowled off a short run-up in the nets at Cricket New South Wales' training base on Tuesday as staff watched on.

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald said on Monday Cummins would need "four-plus weeks" to be ready to play, effectively ruling him out of any warmup match before the Gabba test.

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