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The Ashes: Australia’s Pat Cummins remains in contention for second Ashes Test against England despite not being included in XI | Cricket News
Australia captain Pat Cummins is still in contention to play in Thursday’s second Ashes Test, even though he has yet to be named in the squad.
Cummins missed his side’s win in Perth with a long-running back complaint and was subsequently omitted for this week’s day-nighter in Brisbane.
But he has continued training with his team-mates at the Gabba and Australia have been careful not to formally rule him out of an 11th-hour appearance on the team-sheet.
Steve Smith appeared at the pre-match captain’s press conference but gave no guarantees that he would be leading the side out.
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England’s Ollie Pope discusses the challenges of a day-night Test as his team prepare to take on Australia for The Ashes second Test at The Gabba.
“A whole heap of things are on the table. We’ll wait and see what the wicket looks like later and from there we’ll determine a playing XI,” he said.
“[Cummins] looks pretty good to me, he’s bowled in the nets. Obviously games are different intensity, for sure, but he’s tracking nicely and he knows his body well. We’ll wait and see.”
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Speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast, Matthew Hayden is ‘unconvinced’ after the first Test that Joe Root will hit a hundred in the 2025-26 Ashes in Australia.
Brendan Doggett, who took five wickets on debut last time out, would be the likeliest to make way if the skipper made his return, though there has been some speculation over the role of spinner Nathan Lyon.
Yorkshire-born Josh Inglis is expected to beat Beau Webster to a middle-order recall, with Usman Khawaja out injured and Travis Head ready to open again following a match-winning century as a stand-in at Perth.
What will be key for England in day-night Test?
England have lost five of their seven day-night Tests, including all three in Australia, while the home side have 13 victories from 14 in the format, with the only blot a defeat to West Indies in Brisbane in January 2024.
Stokes said: “We have amazing resources with information, data, all that kind of stuff. I get our analyst to send me over all the info on the day-night cricket that’s been played at the Gabba and also in Australia recently.
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Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton dissect England’s XI for the second Ashes Test against Australia in Brisbane, with off-spinning all-rounder Will Jacks replacing fast bowler Mark Wood for the day-night game.
“There’s daylight, dusk and also the period when the floodlights do come on, so you’re just trying to give yourself as much information as possible.
“Something we’ve spoken about is being conscious of keeping that ball as dry as possible, because as soon as that pink Kookaburra goes soft, it’s going to be a lot harder to feel like you can make a breakthrough with anything on the wicket.
“We’ve been all around the world where you get a softer ball and making breakthroughs seems a lot harder just because of that soft ball. All those tiny little things we’ve had to consider for this week.
“I think our liaison officers got tasked with going out and buying about 60 sweat bands for all of us.”
Ashes series in Australia 2025-26
All times UK and Ireland
- First Test (Perth – November 21-25): Australia beat England by eight wickets
- Second Test (day/night): Thursday December 4 – Monday December 8 (4am) – The Gabba, Brisbane
- Third Test: Wednesday December 17 – Sunday December 21 (11.30pm) – Adelaide Oval
- Fourth Test: Thursday December 25 – Monday December 29 (11.30pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Fifth Test: Sunday January 4 – Thursday January 8 (11.30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground
