Cummins likely to return in Adelaide after missing squad for second Test

Pat Cummins hasn’t been officially ruled out of next week’s second Test in Brisbane, but Australia’s regular skipper is highly unlikely to be parachuted in at the Gabba after being left out of a 14-man squad on Friday.

Cummins is progressing in his recovery from a back injury but not quickly enough to be included in Australia’s squad for the only pink-ball Test of the Ashes. The captain has not played since a tour of the Caribbean in July.

Six days out from Thursday’s Gabba Test, selectors have stuck with the group that delivered an eight-wicket win in Perth to give Australia a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Usman Khawaja has been retained after back spasms prevented him from opening in Perth – he says he will be fine in Brisbane – while Steve Smith has again been listed as captain in Cummins’ absence.

Cummins travelled with the team to Perth and will do the same in Brisbane, where he is set for another long bowling session on Monday as preparations ramp up to get him into the blockbuster series.

“Pat Cummins will travel to Brisbane to continue his preparations,” read a CA statement. “The squad assembles in Brisbane from Sunday.”

Australia could yet pick Cummins to play at the Gabba despite not naming him in the squad, but his omission is a clear sign he remains in significant doubt.

Cummins has been back bowling at full pace in recent days, including a session at the SCG on Friday.

This masthead has reported Cummins is more likely to return for the third Test in Adelaide, with selectors expected to err on the side of caution in Brisbane given he is arguably Australia’s most valuable asset with the ball.

Cummins is yet to complete his return-to-play protocols and selectors want to see him bowl on back-to-back days before giving him the all-clear.

Australia won’t name their XI before match eve.

With the Perth Test finishing inside two days, the workloads of Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Brendan Doggett were limited, and the pace trio is poised to get another go against England’s brittle top order. Michael Neser is the other fit pace bowler in the squad.

Josh Hazlewood was not named due to his hamstring injury and, unlike Cummins, will remain in Sydney to continue his rehabilitation. He bowled alongside Cummins on Friday, albeit at a slower pace.

“It’s coming along slowly,” Hazlewood told Fox Sports at the SCG on Friday. “[I have been] running and everything’s going well.

“It’s probably tough to put a timeline on it. I think ‘Ron’ [McDonald] probably nailed it the other day … play a part in the back end, hopefully.

“Hopefully it’s not still in the balance … and we’re on top by then.”

McDonald has said the series scoreline won’t influence when Australia brings Cummins back. The third Test begins on December 17, giving him nearly three weeks to prove his fitness.

“It looked like a player that was nearing the completion of his rehabilitation,” McDonald said this week. “The intensity was there, the ball speed was there. So there’s a lot of positives there, but now it’s just really building that resilience, just within the soft tissue, and making sure that we’re not putting him in harm’s way in terms of accelerating it too much.

“But it will be a genuine discussion leading into this Test match, and that may be one that eventuates late for us. A little bit to work through, but it’s nearing completion, which is really, really positive.”

Friday’s squad announcement gave no further clues on the way Australia’s XI will shape up at the Gabba. Khawaja is confident his back spasms won’t trouble him, but it might not matter if selectors believe Travis Head’s match-winning century warrants another run at the top of the order.

Former Test captain Mark Taylor this week urged selectors to drop Khawaja and retain Head as Jake Weatherald’s opening partner.

Selectors may also consider leaving out frontline spinner Nathan Lyon and playing all-rounder Beau Webster at No.8. Lyon, who was struck while facing Mark Wood in Perth, has recovered and will travel to Brisbane.

Most of Australia’s squad will arrive in Brisbane on Sunday, with an optional session scheduled that evening ahead of the fourth pink-ball Test at the Gabba.

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