Test captain Pat Cummins rested for six games against Zimbabwe and New Zealand to prepare for massive summer

Test captain Pat Cummins is managing a niggling injury and so a decision has been made on his availability for two upcoming one-day series.

Australian captain Pat Cummins is being rested. Picture: Ishara S. Kodikara / AFP

Test captain Pat Cummins has been rested for a “period of rehabilitation” from what is otherwise a near full-strength Australian squad picked to play six one-day games in Townsville and Cairns starting in late August.

Several players, including leg-spinner Adam Zampa, will also miss out on big paydays, with the clashes against Zimbabwe and New Zealand set to deny them the chance to take up their places in The Hundred competition in England.

Zampa was set to play for the Welsh Fire, Marcus Stoinis the Southern Brave and Sean Abbott in Manchester, but all will don the green and gold instead as Australia continues to focus on preparations for next year’s ODI World Cup in India.

All-rounder Cameron Green continues to emerge as a key plank of that campaign after retaining his place in the squad from the 3-2 series loss to Sri Lanka in July.

Mitchell Swepson, Josh Inglis, Jhye Richardson and Matthew Kuhnemann all drop out of that squad, with Ashton Agar recovering from a side strain that kept him out of the two Tests in Galle.

Adam Zampa is back in to the ODI squad. Picture: Arif Ali / AFP

Cummins was a late arrival in Sri Lanka, as he managed a hip issue that selectors remain mindful of ahead of a huge summer of Tests before a massive 2023 that includes a four-month series in India followed by the Ashes in England.

A Cricket Australia statement said the Test skipper was “being managed through a period of rehabilitation and physical preparation for the upcoming summer” and wouldn’t travel north.

“These series against New Zealand, the world’s No.1 ranked ODI side, and Zimbabwe will be good contests and provide an opportunity to play some great cricket in the lead-up to the home summer,” Australian selection chief George Bailey said.

“The team is excited to be marking the start of a huge summer with these matches in North Queensland.”

Zampa returns having missed the tour of Sri Lanka following the birth of he and wife Harriet’s first child.

Travis Head, who had his Test troubles in Galle, will also miss both series in North Queensland for the birth of his first baby with partner Jess.

The matches are Australia‘s first one-day games on home soil since early December 2020 and will mark the first time a senior Australia men‘s side has played in Townsville.

AUSTRALIAN ODI SQUAD

Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

AUSTRALIA V ZIMBABWE

August 28: Riverway Stadium, Townsville

August 31: Riverway Stadium, Townsville

September 3: Riverway Stadium, Townsville

AUSTRALIA V NEW ZEALAND

September 6: Cazalys Stadium, Cairns (D/N)

September 8: Cazalys Stadium, Cairns (D/N)

September 11: Cazalys Stadium, Cairns (D/N)