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Australia's chair of selectors George Bailey has stated that captain Pat Cummins will have a crucial role in this winter's historic rivalry.

Rumors had circulated that the 32-year-old might miss the series due to a stress fracture in his back that was still troubling him.

Initial reports from the squad suggested no official announcement had been made regarding Cummins' participation, with the Test matches set to start on 21 November in Perth.

The selector shared that Cummins is "building up" and remained hopeful about his chances of being involved.

"We know that the window is narrowing and various factors around that, not only the back issue, but other factors as well," Bailey remarked.

"We're encouraged. There's strong faith that he's going to play a key capacity. Ideally it's the first Test. Should that not happen, we'll adjust."

Injury History

Cummins was ruled out the ODI and T20 games against India and New Zealand in the previous weeks after examinations confirmed a lumbar bone stress.

He has a history of back injuries, with recurrences in several earlier campaigns leading to absences from several home seasons in a short span.

Cummins stated he would be ""aggressive" and "take risks" in his recovery plan to make the squad for the Ashes.

He mentioned that there was no confirmation if Cummins had begun bowling as part of his rehabilitation but conceded it was "getting tight" for him to recover fully for the first Test.

Backup Options

In case of absence, ex-skipper Smith will lead the side.

All-rounder Cameron Green was excluded lately from the ODI lineup for their one-day international series against India as a precautionary measure because of an abdominal issue.

He labeled it as a "slight concern and confirmed that he'll feature in the domestic first-class competition, so will be "in a good place to deliver overs."

"We put so much time has gone into creating the schedule for him to participate for the initial game as an all-rounder," Bailey explained.

"His involvement was limited to the initial matches regardless. How he handles the cricket bat in white-ball cricket, should it hinder progress for a short period, we just made the decision to adopt a safer strategy."

Match Calendar

The Historic Rivalry

Spanning from late 2025 to early 2026