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The Australian chief selector George Bailey has stated that skipper Cummins will be a central figure in this winter's England-Australia contest.

There were concerns that the 32-year-old might sit out due to a persistent back stress problem that was still troubling him.

Previous updates from the squad suggested no definitive call had been made regarding whether he would play, with the five-Test series set to start on November 21 in the WACA.

Bailey expressed that his recovery is on track and was "optimistic" about the prospects of being involved.

"It's clear that the clock is ticking and there are permutations involved, not only his injury, but other factors as well," he commented.

"It's positive. There's strong faith that he's going to play a significant role. With luck it's the first Test. If not, we'll reassess."

Previous Setbacks

He was sidelined Australia's limited-overs series against India and New Zealand in the previous weeks after scans revealed a stress reaction in his back.

Previous incidents include of back injuries, with setbacks in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2015-16 leading to absences from multiple domestic campaigns in four years.

He emphasized he would be ""aggressive" and "take risks" in his recovery plan to secure his spot for the Ashes.

Bailey noted that he did not know if he had started his bowling workouts as part of his recovery but conceded it was "becoming urgent" for him to recover fully for the initial match.

Alternative Arrangements

If he's unavailable, veteran batsman Smith will take over the captaincy.

All-rounder Cameron Green was withdrawn recently from the ODI lineup for their ODI contests against the Asian giants as a preventive step because of soreness in his side.

He labeled it as a "small issue and confirmed that he's scheduled to appear in the domestic first-class competition, so will be "in a good place to resume bowling."

"Considerable effort has gone into building out the plan for him to take part for the initial game as an all-rounder," Bailey explained.

"He was only going to play the initial matches in any case. The way he swings the bat in limited-overs, even if it just sets him back for 24 more hours, we opted to adopt a safer strategy."

Match Calendar

The Ashes: Australia v England

Spanning from late 2025 to early 2026