Ashes 2025-26: ‘Not counting out Ashes cricket’ – Jhye Richardson racing against time after 3rd shoulder surgery

Jhye Richardson, a talented Australian fast bowler, hopes to participate in the forthcoming Ashes series, which begins on November 21. However, his chances of participation are grim, as he only recently resumed bowling following a third surgery on his right bowling shoulder in January.

Richardson, 28, underwent surgery to stop his recurrent dislocations. He hasn’t played Test cricket since the 2021-2022 Ashes Down Under. In three Tests, Richardson has 11 wickets at an average of 22.09.

He has only played four first-class matches since his last Test, the most recent in November of last year, when he dislocated his shoulder while high-fiving a teammate. Jhye Richardson admitted that he had only recently began bowling practice and would have to work extremely hard to secure a berth in Australia’s Ashes squad.

“Some were good, some were bad and some hit the side net and things like that. I was a little bit rusty but it’s good signs. We’re hitting the milestones that we planned out at the start and while it has been really slow, things are looking good,” Richardson said while speaking in Perth on Wednesday at an event to mark 100 days to go before the Perth Ashes Test.

“As nice as it would be [to play in the Ashes], there is a lot of water to go under the bridge before then. We’re not counting out Ashes cricket, but there’s a long process that has started and has been ongoing and there is a lot to go through before then. Things are looking good for the summer and I should be up and ready to go,” he added.

Shield cricket is definitely on the radar: Jhye Richardson

Richardson hopes to take part in the impending Sheffield Shield competition to get ready for the rigours of Test cricket. However, he failed to put a date for his comeback to Australia’s premier domestic first-class tournament. The Murdoch-born, however, opined that playing white-ball matches will help him gradually prepare for red-ball cricket.

“Shield cricket is definitely on the radar, whether it’s game one, two, three, four, five, six, whichever it is, I’m hoping there will be some Shield cricket at some stage and hopefully some cricket for Fremantle and some second XI cricket amongst that as well,” Richardson said.

“I think white-ball cricket is always good to build the loads for red-ball cricket. We know that bowling 10 overs at high intensity really helps. And match time is something that you can’t necessarily get in the nets. We know that that intensity is going to be important, so I’d say there’d be some white-ball cricket,” he added.