Australia’s management made the call on Wednesday afternoon to not risk Cummins, with Scott Boland to take his place and Steve Smith to act as captain.
The hosts’ other pacemen in Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc have pulled up fine from their heavy workload in Perth, meaning both will play.
The news rules out the chance of tearaway quick Lance Morris debuting in Adelaide, with Michael Neser to also be left on the sideline.
Cummins had been battling a quad injury since the first innings at Optus Stadium and did not bowl on the final two days as Australia claimed a 164-run victory.
He completed light run-throughs on Tuesday evening, but with little time before Thursday’s first ball it was always unlikely the quick would recover in time.
“I don’t think he was too far away,” Smith said.
“With what’s coming up with a big series against South Africa and Tests in India, there is a lot of cricket.
“From a strategic point of view, to have the possibility of going down and putting the load through the other quicks after they bowled some overs during the Perth Test.
“It would have been a risky decision to continue going, so I think we have made the right call.”
The 29-year-old is expected to be fit for the first Test against South Africa, starting at the Gabba on December 17.
Cummins’ withdrawal marks the second straight season the paceman has missed the Adelaide Test, after being ruled out as a COVID-19 close contact last year.
Smith also captained on that occasion, on a rushed morning where he wore Cummins’ over-sized captain’s blazer on his return to the toss for the first time since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.
Things are more controlled in Adelaide this year, best exemplified by the fact that Smith’s blazer is this time in town and he has 24 hours to prepare to lead the team.
The 33-year-old said he would impart his own approach back on the team, after previously leading Australia in 35 Tests.
“There’s a bit more time to prepare for this game than last year, that was chaotic,” Smith said.
“I have to do it my own way, I can’t try and be someone else.
“When something like this happens we have plans in place for certain batters, but ultimately it’s what the game entails is what needs to be done.
“I’m pretty chilled, I took over the game here last year and it went pretty smoothly.”
Boland’s recall comes after he took 18 wickets at an average of 9.55 in the only three Tests of his career during last summer’s Ashes.
-AAP
