Cummins ruled out of rest of Ashes; Lyon faces surgery

Australia captain Pat Cummins and veteran spinner Nathan Lyon have been ruled out of the final two Ashes Tests against England, Cricket Australia confirmed on Tuesday.

Lyon, 38, will undergo surgery on a torn right hamstring, sidelining him for an extended period, while Cummins will miss the remainder of the series to avoid risking long-term injury after returning from a lower back issue.

Jhye Richardson and Todd Murphy have been added to the 15-man squad as cover for the fourth Test, which begins on Friday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Australia have already retained the Ashes urn with commanding victories in Perth (eight wickets), Brisbane (eight wickets) and Adelaide (82 runs).

Coach Andrew McDonald said Cummins “won’t play any part in the rest of the series”.

“That was a discussion that we had a long time ago around his return. Yeah, we were taking on some risk. We’ve now won the series, and that was the goal,” McDonald told cricket.com.au.

Cummins will now focus on full recovery for the Twenty20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, starting in early February.

“To position him for further risk and jeopardise him long term is not something that we want to do,” McDonald added.

“Pat’s really comfortable with that. If he had any setback in the build-up as well, we would have shut him down straight away.”

Steve Smith, who led the side in Cummins’ absence during the first two Tests, will captain again in Melbourne after missing the Adelaide match due to vertigo.

The changes mean at least three alterations to the playing XI.

Usman Khawaja replaced Smith at number four in Adelaide, scoring 82 and 40, and is likely to retain his place, with Josh Inglis potentially making way.

Lyon damaged his hamstring while fielding on the final day in Adelaide and hobbled off after claiming his 564th Test wicket, overtaking Glenn McGrath and moving into sixth on the all-time Test bowling list.

Murphy, 23, is in line to make his first home Test appearance. His previous seven Tests were all played overseas, with his most recent outing coming in Sri Lanka earlier this year.

Richardson returns to the Test squad after a four-year absence, during which he underwent three shoulder surgeries.

Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc are expected to lead the pace attack after recovering well from Adelaide, with Michael Neser, Brendan Doggett and Richardson competing for the third seam spot.

McDonald praised Starc, who has bowled nearly 100 overs in the series and remains in excellent condition.

“Starc’s amazing. He’s pulled up fine,” the coach said.

Starc has taken 22 wickets in the three Tests at an average of 17.04, including a career-best innings return of 7-58 in Perth. He has also contributed 150 valuable runs lower down the order.

“He keeps running in and presenting the pace that he does,” McDonald added.

“There’s a lot to be learned around preparing yourself and targeting the right matches at the right time.”

Australia squad for the fourth Test: Steve Smith (capt), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster.