The unaltered Australia team for the day-night Test at the Gabba does not include Pat Cummins. Josh Inglis, Michael Neser, and Beau Webster were not included in the starting lineup, but the 14 players who were on duty in Perth were kept by the selectors.
Cummins, who bowled to interim captain Steven Smith during a lengthy training session at the SCG on Friday, will go to Brisbane to complete his bowling comeback. Although there is nothing preventing the selectors from including him in the team closer to the match, he is scheduled to bowl on Monday. This would probably result in a comeback for the third Test in Adelaide, which would allow him an additional two weeks to be ready.
Usman Khawaja, meanwhile, has kept his spot in the team despite being unable to open in either innings due to back spasms in Perth. The success of Travis Head in the role during Australia’s pursuit has sparked discussion about whether it ought to be a permanent one.
Although Inglis and Webster are middle-order options in case the selectors decide to make a move, Khawaja is expected to keep his berth as long as he is healthy.
Brendan Doggett, who took five wickets in Perth, will probably continue to play with Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland in Cummins’ absence.
“I am going to control what I can control, keep ticking the legs over and keep bowling and trying to improve in every session and game,” Doggett stated on Thursday. “If I get called on in that second Test I feel like I am ready to go again.”
However, Nathan Lyon’s participation is uncertain because he did not participate in Australia’s most recent pink-ball Test in Jamaica and only bowled two overs in Perth.
There is always a chance that Josh Hazlewood, who was never given the opportunity to play in Brisbane, may play later in the series after continuing his recuperation from a hamstring issue with another light bowl on Friday.
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