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Cummins Ruled Out Until New Year

Wednesday 7 December 2011

©REUTERS / Action Images

18-year-old Australian fast bowler Patrick Cummins will not play again this year after he was diagnosed with a bone stress problem in his heel.

He had suffered a heel injury during the Test series in South Africa, where he hit the winning runs to seal a series-levelling win in Johannesburg, and has not played since.

Having seen foot specialists he has been ruled out until early to mid-January 2012 which could see him miss the Test series against India.

Cricket Australia (CA) physiotherapist Alex Kountouris explained:

"Patrick injured his heel early into the second Test against South Africa. By the end of the match he was quite sore and we had scans done after the game that confirmed heel ‘fat pad’ injury.

"On return to Australia, he was given some time to recover and was reviewed throughout last week by NSW medical staff and then by myself in Brisbane during the first Vodafone Test versus New Zealand. By the end of last week it was apparent to all of us managing him that he was progressing slower than expected for a soft tissue injury of the heel.

"As such we arranged for him to see a foot specialist and had further scans that have identified a bone component to his injury, that was not evident on the original scans. We now believe that Patrick has a bone stress injury as well as the ‘fat pad’ injury.

"This means that his recovery will take longer than first expected. He is not likely to resume bowling until early to mid-January 2012."

Cummins was one of a number of players who were not available for Australia's first Test against New Zealand, which they nevertheless won by nine wickets in Brisbane.