Australia leave door open for Cummins return

Australia have delayed naming their team for the second Ashes Test against England, leaving the door open for captain Pat Cummins to make a shock return.

Pace bowler Cummins missed the first Test with the back injury that has stopped him from playing since July.

The 32-year-old bowled in the nets in Perth during the first Test and again in his home city of Sydney following Australia's victory, only to be left out of the squad for the day-night Test in Brisbane starting on Thursday.

But on Tuesday, with Cummins again training in Brisbane, Australia refused to rule out the possibility of him being included in the XI at the Gabba.

Steve Smith, who led Australia in Perth, spoke on Wednesday at the captain's pre-match news conference and said they would name their team later in the day.

A meeting between Cummins, Smith, head coach Andrew McDonald and selector George Bailey took place on the square at the Gabba, after which Cummins was embraced by McDonald.

Following the Australia team's departure from the ground, it was confirmed they would not name their team until the toss on Thursday.

Speaking earlier in the day, Smith said there were "a whole heap of things are on the table".

"We'll wait and see what the wicket looks like later and from there we'll determine a playing XI," he said.

"He looks pretty good to me; he's bowled in the nets. Obviously games are different intensity, but he's tracking nicely and he knows his body well.

"He's been bowling for a few weeks and pulling up well, and ramping his numbers up. He's feeling good. He's bowling nicely in the nets, having faced him."

Cummins could take the place of pace bowler Brendan Doggett, who made his Test debut in Perth, or Nathan Lyon if Australia opt to go without a frontline spinner.

Asked about Australia's decision not to name their team, England captain Ben Stokes said: "We'll just have to wait and see what XI they go with.

"Pat's awesome. He has been for a very, very long time. He's done great things not only as a player, but he's been great since he's been given the responsibility of being captain for Australia.

"Whatever XI they go with - if Pat's there, if Pat's not - we'll still be going in there to try and get the win too."

There will be at least one change to the Australia team from first Test, after opener Usman Khawaja failed to recover from back spasms.

Leeds-born batter Josh Inglis is the most likely to come into the side, having trained as part of the Australia slip cordon.

Travis Head, who made a match-winning century in Perth after being promoted to open in place of Khawaja, will remain at the top of the order.

Inglis moved to Australia when he was 14 and made a century on Test debut against Sri Lanka this year.

The 30-year-old, who has three Test caps, made a hundred for a Cricket Australia XI against England Lions over the weekend of the first Test.

"He's a pretty attacking batsman," said Smith. "He did really well on his debut in Sri Lanka. He's been in really good form and he plays fast bowling nicely. I'm sure he'll do really well."

The return of Cummins - one of the best fast bowlers in the world - would be a huge boost to an Australia team 1-0 up and with the chance to move a step closer to retaining the Ashes.

Only Mitchell Starc has taken more wickets in floodlit Tests than Cummins. Cummins has a better average, strike-rate and economy rate when bowling with a pink ball compared to the red.

In batting at number eight, Cummins will also boost an Australia batting order that included a long tail in Perth.

England, who have not won a Test in Australia in almost 15 years nor a match in Brisbane since 1986, confirmed their team on Tuesday.

Spin-bowling all-rounder Will Jacks has been included for his first Test in three years, replacing injured pace bowler Mark Wood.

With England identifying the need for a spin option, Jacks was chosen ahead of first-choice spinner Shoaib Bashir because of the runs he could provide at number eight.

"We tried to look at how we thought spin was going to be used and there was a bit of a tactical element to it," said Stokes.

"Jacksy's ability with the bat - to have that down the order for us is useful as well.

"If it ever comes down to picking our best spinner, selection would go the other way."