Travis Head could become the 48th Test cricket captain of Australia after Steve Smith sent a huge injury scare through the Aussie camp over the weekend. Cricket Australia revealed on Sunday that Smith suffered an elbow injury while playing in the BBL for the Sydney Sixers, throwing his availability for the first Test against Sri Lanka on January 31 into doubt.

Smith has taken over the Test captaincy for the two-Test series because Pat Cummins is remaining in Australia for the birth of his second child. But Head would be in the box-seat if Smith was to be ruled out – a massive twist for the South Australian batter.

The 35-year-old Smith damaged his right elbow while throwing in the outfield during the Sixers’ clash with Sydney Thunder on Friday night – a match that was eventually washed out. Smith will seek further advice from a specialist this week, and still intends to fly out to join the rest of the Test team in Dubai for a pre-series camp. A number of the Australian Test players have already arrived in Dubai for a camp at the ICC Academy to ready themselves for the spin-friendly conditions they’ll likely face in Sri Lanka.

Smith has acted as captain a number of times in recent years when Cummins has missed matches – most recently in 2023 in India. The 35-year-old was infamously stripped of the captaincy in 2018 over the sandpaper scandal in South Africa, but a two-year leadership ban has well-and-truly expired.

Head was elevated to co-vice-captain with Smith last year and might find himself skippering the side in Sri Lanka. There were calls for the South Australian to be named captain in Cummins’ absence as he seemingly has a lot longer left in his career than Smith.

Matt Kuhnemann undergoes surgery before Sri Lanka tour

Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann has undergone surgery on a fractured right thumb and is hopeful of being available for the first Test. Kuhnemann has played three Tests in his career and is hoping to add to that number in the spin-friendly conditions in Sri Lanka.

The lefty was injured while playing for the Brisbane Heat in the BBL last Thursday. He will stay in Australia until his surgical wounds heal, but is planning to start bowling again in the coming days. Thankfully the injury occurred to his non-bowling hand and shouldn’t affect his ability to bowl.

Cricket Australia issues update on Pat Cummins injury

And Cricket Australia also provided an update on Cummins’ ankle injury, which has thrown his availability for the Champions Trophy next month in doubt. As well as staying home to be with wife Becky, Cummins is also recuperating an ankle injury caused by his heavy recent workload.

A Cricket Australia spokesman said Cummins would “likely require a period of physical preparation and recovery”, and a call on whether he’d play the 50-over Champions Trophy tournament will be made in due course. Cummins was picked in Australia’s preliminary squad last week, with chairman of selectors George Bailey confident the star quick would be fit and available for the ODI tournament.

During a press conference last week, Bailey insisted he hadn’t asked Cummins about the results of scans on his ankle and was leaving him to deal with preparing for the arrival of his second child. With Mitch Marsh currently serving as vice-captain of the ODI side, he could find himself acting as skipper in the Champions Trophy. It would also mark a stunning turn of events after his recent axing from the Test side.