The duo Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will be missing the second test of The Ashes 2025-26, which is set to begin on December 04 at Brisbane.

Steve Smith will continue in the leadership role for the second test as Australia goes unchanged for the second test.

Earlier, it seemed likely that Pat Cummins would be part of the playing XI as he was seen training with the pink ball. The 32-year old mentioned that he had a half chance of making it to the squad for the second test of the series.

“It’s on track and pulling up pretty well. (I’m) half a chance for the next game. I’m pretty hopeful, and it’s probably better than it was a few weeks ago,” said Pat Cummins.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald said that they didn’t want to accelerate it too much by including him in the squad.

“It looked like a player who was nearing the completion of his rehabilitation. The intensity was there, the ball speed was there. There are a lot of positives, but now it’s just really building that resilience within the soft tissue and making sure that we’re not putting him in harm’s way in terms of accelerating it too much,” he stated.

The squad also includes Usman Khawaja who didn’t come out to bat in the second innings during the first test due to back spams.

He needs to prove his fitness when the squad assembles in Brisbane on Sunday. If Khawaja misses out, Travis Head could open the innings, and that will allow Australia to include Josh Inglis or Beau Webster as a middle-order batter.

The second test will be played between December 04 and 08 at The Gabba, Brisbane.

Australia Squad: Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster