🔗 Share this article

You could wonder whether Cricket Australia intentionally chooses to be opaque about team selection or simply has a deficiency in public relations, but yet again, the health status of athletes and final team composition must be inferred from the selection in the larger squad for the second Ashes Test.

Normally, an identical team list would not attract attention, but this time it is, due to the possible movement involving Pat Cummins and Usman Khawaja, none of which has now eventuated.

The unexpected element is Cummins for not being included, with the team skipper and fast-bowling leader deep into his recovery from initial symptoms of a back injury. The sole official statement was a cursory line with the team announcement stating that “Pat Cummins will travel to Brisbane to further his training.”

Suggestions from within CA support the view that everything is on track and his recovery remains happily on track, with a probable return to the side soon. In theory, he might still be added to the Test squad in the next few days if he and management so choose. However, the explanations seem inconsistent.

Going back to when his medical tests came back positive in last month, starting the clock on his return to play, all public commentary from the bowler himself and board schedules suggested he would only narrowly miss the initial match and was set to practice at close to full intensity with the team during the match. Coach Andrew McDonald said, “He will be up and bowling in Perth, and fans will wonder why he’s not playing.”

Once Cummins got back to his home city following the team’s raucous two-day win, he was observed practicing in the state facilities without any apparent limitations and, most notably, was training with a pink ball, presumably as readiness for the Brisbane day-night game.

What prompted the shift, more than four weeks since he indicated requiring four weeks to build up his workload, and with six days until the first ball in the Gabba? Additionally, there are eight more days of rest between Brisbane and the third Test. Should he target Adelaide, it will be over two months since he resumed bowling.

That in itself is fine: medical opinions evolve, medical staff can be conservative, athletes might take care. What’s strange is that during the most anticipated and closely followed Test series in Australia’s calendar, the board officials don’t appear to consider it reasonable to share updates about the captain’s fitness and availability or the changing nature of either.

And if caution is the watchword with Cummins, the reverse is true with Khawaja’s back injury. He had muscle spasms in the first Test during two paltry fielding innings, keeping Australia’s usual opener 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 surely leaves some risk that they could return in the heat of the next Test.

His inclusion suggests he is set to return to opening the batting, even though Travis Head made a record-setting century in his place. Khawaja wouldn’t be picked as a reserve or to bat down the order. Once more, there is no official information about this, only the squad listing.

It isn’t necessary that sides must reveal a full lineup when announcing selections, and strategies may shift. However, certain decisions are clearer than others, and given the way Travis Head’s explosive performance drew fan interest, it would do no harm to clarify where both batsmen are slotted to play. Some uncertainty in sports is a positive, but creating it out of the broadly obvious is unnecessary. If you’re in the business of engaging fans, communication goes a long way.