The Ashes: Australia will be a "tough team to beat": Pat Cummins' warning to England

Pat Cummins warned Tuesday that an Australian side with some of the "greats of all time" will be hard to beat as England's task becomes tougher with Jimmy Anderson missing out on the first Test. The home team kick off the Ashes opener in Brisbane on Wednesday, defending the sacred urn and their arch-rivals have a grim record in Australia, losing nine of their last 10 Tests. The hurdles Joe Root's men had to jump got even higher as it was reported that seasoned spearhead Anderson - Test cricket's most prolific fast bowler - won't be playing at the gabba.

"He's obviously a great player and it's a shame he won't be out there tomorrow but it doesn't change what we're going to do," said the Australian captain, who will lead his first Test. Anderson's apparent absence leaves England to pick four bowlers from Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad and Jack Leach who will play alongside returning all-rounder Ben Stokes.

They've already been without pacemaker Jofra Archer, who is off the tour as he is recovering from an elbow injury, and Olly Stone, who is out because of back surgery. The news comes a day after England captain Joe Root refused to introduce his team despite Australia confirming their starting XI over the weekend.

Cummins, who took the reins when Tim Paine quit because of a text messaging scandal, nominated Root, the world's leading test bat, for Australia's premier wicket. "He'll be at the top for the biggest wicket, he's had really good ones for the last 12 months or so but I wouldn't necessarily say he'll make it or break it for her," he said.

Close-knit

Cummins suggested that England could battle an Australian side that includes superstar batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner and bowling giants Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. "I look around our team and we have a pretty special team," he said, although Australia hasn't played a test since January because of Covid.

"We have some of the all-time greats in Australian cricket in our locker room and if most of them click we will be a pretty hard team to beat." "We get along really well and we have a lot of fun, so hopefully a close-knit group. We enjoy our cricket and are relentless when we get our chance to play," he added.

Read Here | James Anderson sits out the first test facing the Pink Ball competition in Adelaide

England has not won a Test in Brisbane since 1986 and only four times - twice in the 1930s, once against the Australians weakened by Kerry Packer from 1978 to 1979 and 35 years ago during the heyday of Ian Botham

But Root insisted that the first test to predict showers would "not define" their Ashes campaign. "We have nothing to lose in many ways if we come here for this series. "In the end, we just have to focus on what's ahead of us and start the friendly game well, get on the series and manage everything else that goes in ashes the first morning and take over the game from there."

Australia XI: Marcus Harris, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

England (from): Joe Root (capt), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.