Australia has confirmed Pat Cummins will return to the XI in Adelaide and reclaim the captaincy from Steve Smith as mystery hangs over the team make-up, including where Usman Khawaja stands.
Australia on Wednesday revealed a 15-man squad for the third Ashes Test, beginning next Wednesday, with every player from the Brisbane squad retaining their place and Cummins slotting back in.
Cummins is listed as captain as he prepares to make a comeback from a back stress injury that sidelined him for the first two Tests, in which Australia took a 2-0 lead in the series.
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Selectors are expected to make at least two changes to the XI, with Cummins returning and Nathan Lyon all but certainly set for a recall after he was dropped for Michael Neser in Brisbane.
Neser and Brendan Doggett will likely make way for Cummins and Lyon.
Khawaja was ruled unfit for selection at the Gabba due to the back spasms that had hampered him during the Perth Test, preventing him from opening in Australia’s first dig and not batting at all in the second.
Rather than retiring, Khawaja, who turns 39 during the Adelaide Test, has vowed to fight for re-selection in the XI.
From the six Tests he’s played since scoring a double century in Sri Lanka early this year, he’s made 188 runs at 18.80, including a top score of 47.
Since the start of the 2023 summer, he’s registered 1051 runs at 31.84 from 19 Tests.
Whether he returns as an opener, slots into the middle order or is not selected in the XI remains to be seen.
On Tuesday, national coach Andrew McDonald confirmed Josh Hazlewood had been ruled out of the remainder of the series amid his struggles with a pair of injuries.
Hazlewood missed the first two Tests due to a hamstring injury suffered in New South Wales’ final Sheffield Shield game ahead of the Ashes, before it was revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald during the Brisbane Test that he’d started to experience Achilles soreness.
From left: Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Steve Smith. Getty
“No, I don’t think he’ll take part in the series now,” McDonald said of Hazlewood.
“You can go with that one. It’s a totally separate injury [to the hamstring issue]; it’s somewhere lower in the calf to Achilles region.
“He will be out of the series and his preparation will then shift towards the [2026 T20] World Cup, which is an incredibly important campaign for us.
“But unfortunately Josh won’t be a part of the Ashes, and [we’re] really flat for him.
“A couple of setbacks we didn’t see coming. We thought he’d play a huge part in the series.
“But [we] really feel for him that he won’t get that opportunity.”
Hazlewood, 34, has been riddled with soft-tissue injuries in recent years.
The right-arm quick was in scintillating touch in white-ball cricket during the lead-up to the Ashes, but because of his injury history there were always doubts over whether he’d be able to get through five Tests.
Pat Cummins (left) and Josh Hazlewood. Getty
Cummins, meanwhile, has been building up his workloads after returning from the mid-year tour of the Caribbean with a back stress injury.
“Pat will be back in the squad, he will be available, and that creates a different balance to our attack,” McDonald said.
“Barring anything else happening in the next week, we’ll be expecting Pat to be tossing the coin and putting the blazer on.
“There won’t be any match opportunities for Pat. This is something we’ve done with Pat before, off longish lay-offs, where we’ve put in some time to rebuilding his body.”
Cummins was put through “match simulation” bowling spells at Brisbane’s Allan Border Field during the Gabba Test, McDonald said.
“We feel as though he’ll be as best prepared as he can be,” the coach added.
“He was well ahead of where we thought he would be at, and it created a real live conversation for Brisbane. The skill readiness, the loads, how he was pulling up — it was debated a lot leading into that Test match.
“So with that in mind, seeing him further advanced, we feel he’ll be really well-placed for the challenges of Adelaide.”
England must beat Australia at Adelaide Oval to remain a chance of winning the series and snatching back the Ashes urn.
Australia’s 15-man squad for Adelaide Test
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster