🔗 Share this article

One might speculate whether the Australian cricket board deliberately prefers to be unclear about player availability or simply has a deficiency in public relations, but yet again, the fitness of players and final team composition must be inferred from the selection in the larger squad for the Brisbane match.

Typically, an identical team list would not attract attention, but on this occasion it is, thanks to the anticipated changes involving both key players, neither of which has now eventuated.

Cummins is the surprise for not being included, with the team skipper and pace spearhead progressing in rehabilitation from early signs of a stress fracture. The sole official statement was a brief mention with the team announcement stating that Cummins is scheduled to go to Brisbane to continue his preparations.”

Insider reports support the view that everything is on track and his recovery remains happily on track, with a likely addition to the team in the near future. In theory, he might still be added to the Test squad in coming days if he and management so choose. However, something the claims doesn’t add up.

Going back to when Cummins’ scans were cleared in last month, starting the clock on his buildup to match fitness, all official statements from the bowler himself and timelines from CA indicated he would only narrowly miss the initial match and was scheduled to train at close to full intensity with the squad in Perth. Coach Andrew McDonald said, “He will be up and bowling in Perth, and people will be sitting there questioning why he’s not playing.”

After returning to Sydney following the team’s raucous two-day win, he was observed practicing in the state facilities without any apparent limitations and, most notably, was using a pink Kookaburra ball, what one would assume as readiness for the Brisbane day-night game.

So, why the change of plans, well over a month since he indicated requiring a month to prepare his workload, and with six days until the first ball in Brisbane? Not to mention, there are eight more days of rest between Brisbane and the third Test. If the latter is Cummins’ destination, it will be more than seven weeks since he resumed bowling.

That in itself is fine: prognoses can change, doctors may be cautious, athletes might take care. What’s strange is that during the most anticipated and closely followed Ashes contest in the season, the governing body’s representatives seem not to think it necessary to provide any information about the skipper’s condition or the changing nature of either.

And if caution is the watchword with Cummins, the opposite applies with the opener’s issue. He had spasms flare up in the first Test during two paltry fielding innings, preventing the regular batsman from doing so in both innings and from having any influence when he did bat down the order. Even if his symptoms have subsided, the newness of the problem creates concern that they could return in the heat of the next Test.

With Khawaja in the squad suggests he is due to resume the top order, even though Travis Head made a record-setting century in Perth. He wouldn’t be selected as a backup or to play lower. But again, there is no official information about this, only the squad listing.

It isn’t necessary that teams should have to give a full lineup when picking their squad, and strategies may shift. But some plans are firmer than others, and considering how Head’s whirlwind captured public attention, it would do no harm to confirm where both batsmen are due to bat. Some uncertainty in sports is a positive, but manufacturing it out of the clearly evident is unnecessary. If you’re in the business of winning over audiences, communication goes a long way.