Australia Test captain Pat Cummins is set to miss the upcoming T20I tour of New Zealand, Cricket Australia (CA) is said to have prioritized his availability for the home Ashes series. The 32-year-old pacer, who had also been sidelined from the recent white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies, will undergo regular back scans after experiencing stiffness since his return from the Caribbean a month ago, as reported by CODE Sports. Cricket Australia's move to grant their best seam-bowling all-rounder a break underscores its priority in keeping him fit for the five-Test Ashes series that starts in Perth in November. Even though Cummins will miss the New Zealand tour, he is likely to be fit for the ODI series against India in October and play at least one Sheffield Shield match for New South Wales before the Ashes. Talking on Thursday, teammate seamer Josh Hazlewood validated that Australia's Test pacers will have distinct preparation paths heading into the five-game series, with the prized urn as stake. Also Read | Team India’s Dubai Arrival Date Confirmed Ahead of Asia Cup 2025 Here is what Hazlewood told reporters: "The Test guys will play more than one Shield game. They'll probably play two or three, but everyone's on different programs. I used it last year and found it very beneficial - time on the field, multiple spells in a day, it's hard to replicate at training," "It felt like over the last 12 months the best way for me to go about it is just keep ticking over, keep playing, not having too long off bowling. If I can just stay up there at match intensity as long as I can, that's the best way forward," the right-arm seamer added. Australia's seam-bowling unit has been struggling with injuries recently. Lance Morris, Spencer Johnson and Ben Dwarshuis are recovering from niggles, so Cummins, Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland will have the onus of spearheading the attack in the Ashes. In the meantime, Australia's three-match T20I series against New Zealand will kick off on October 1. All three matches will be staged at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. The following two T20Is will be staged at the same ground on October 3 and 4. The Men in Yellow played three T20Is and as many ODIs against South Africa in their own backyard recently. Though Australia won the T20I series, the Proteas won the ODIs.