Australia's captain Poised for a Key Part in the Ashes

The Australian chair of selectors George Bailey has confirmed that captain Pat Cummins will play a "major part" in the forthcoming England-Australia contest.

Speculation had been growing that the veteran bowler might miss the series due to a ongoing back issue that was still troubling him.

Previous updates from team management suggested no official announcement had been made regarding whether he would play, with the extended contest scheduled to begin on November 21 in Perth.

He revealed that the captain is progressing and felt positive about the likelihood of being involved.

"We know that the window is narrowing and there are permutations involved, aside from the back issue, but other factors as well," he commented.

"It's positive. There's strong faith that he will feature a key capacity. Hopefully from the opening match. Should that not happen, we'll adjust."

Injury History

Cummins was ruled out Australia's limited-overs series against India and New Zealand recently after medical tests showed a stress reaction in his back.

There is a track record of recurring issues, with setbacks in multiple past seasons leading to absences from three Australian summers in a limited period.

The bowler mentioned he would be bold in recovery efforts in his recovery plan to make the squad for the series.

The selector indicated that he did not know if the captain had resumed bowling as part of his recovery but acknowledged it was "becoming urgent" for him to recover fully for the opener.

Backup Options

Should Cummins not be fit, ex-skipper Smith will lead the side.

Versatile player Green was excluded lately from the ODI lineup for their ODI contests against India as a preventive step because of an abdominal issue.

The selector characterized it as a "small issue and mentioned that Green will play in the domestic first-class competition, so will be "ideally positioned to be ready to bowl."

"We put so much time has gone into building out the plan for him to take part for the opening match as an batting and bowling option," he elaborated.

"Originally, he'd only feature in the first two ODIs regardless. How he handles the cricket bat in white-ball cricket, should it hinder progress for 24 more hours, we just made the decision to approach this more conservatively."

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