Australia captain and pace spearhead Pat Cummins is “heavily unlikely” to be fit in time for this month’s Champions Trophy, head coach Andrew McDonald has revealed, opening up the possibility of either Steve Smith or Travis Head leading the side.

Cummins hasn’t been able to resume training after he missed the Test series in Sri Lanka due to the birth of his second child, while also nursing an ankle problem, which flared up during the gruelling Border-Gavaskar Trophy. “Cummins hasn’t been able to resume bowling so he’s heavily unlikely, so that would mean that we do need a captain,” ICC quoted McDonald as saying.