Ashes setback: What Cummins' possible absence means for Australia

The Ashes in Australia have ended up coinciding with significant moments in the Test career of Pat Cummins. Eight years ago, he ended up playing his first-ever Test on home soil against England. Four years on from then, he dramatically took over as Test captain in the most unusual of circumstances.

And now with the English tourists only a month away from arriving on these shores, the 32-year-old fast bowler seems likely to miss a chunk of the Ashes, if not the entirety of the series. Courtesy of the irksome lumbar bone stress issue on his lower back having not healed in time for him to start bowling again.

As of today, the chances of Cummins taking the field for