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Australia's chair of selectors George Bailey has confirmed that skipper Cummins will play a "major part" in the forthcoming England-Australia contest.

Speculation had been growing that the veteran bowler might be unavailable due to a stress fracture in his back that remained unresolved.

Previous updates from the squad suggested no final decision had been made regarding whether he would play, with the five-Test series kicking off on 21 November in Western Australia.

He revealed that Cummins is "building up" and felt positive about the likelihood of being involved.

"We know that time is getting short and there are permutations around that, aside from the back issue, but further aspects," Bailey remarked.

"The outlook is good. [We are] really confident that he's going to play a major part. With luck it's the first Test. Otherwise, then we'll pick it up."

Injury History

The captain missed the ODI and T20 games against New Zealand and India recently after scans revealed a lower back issue.

There is a track record of back injuries, with setbacks in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2015-16 causing him to miss multiple domestic campaigns in a short span.

The bowler mentioned he would be ""aggressive" and "take risks" in his rehabilitation process to secure his spot for the contest.

He mentioned that he did not know if Cummins had begun bowling as part of his recovery but acknowledged it was "becoming urgent" for him to be fit for the initial match.

Alternative Arrangements

Should Cummins not be fit, former captain Steve Smith will assume leadership.

All-rounder Cameron Green was excluded lately from the national team for their one-day international series against the Asian giants as a preventive step because of discomfort in his torso.

Bailey described it as a "minor" injury and stated 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 creating the schedule for him to be available for the initial game as an dual-role player," he elaborated.

"His involvement was limited to the starting games anyway. His aggressive style the bat in limited-overs, if it causes any delay for 24 more hours, we just made the decision to approach this more conservatively."

Match Calendar

The Ashes: Australia v England

21 November 2025 - 7 January 2026