In a big way, the announcement came from Cricket Australia (CA) that through the unchanged squad, the second Ashes Test against the English side was going to be played. The match was anticipated to be both Pat Cummins and the hosts regular skipper were excluded from the team giving him more time to heal from a back injury.
The missing Pat Cummins out of the Australia squad for the second Ashes Test was confirmed by Cricket Australia on Friday.
Besides the return to the Australian training session and bowling of several spells, the experienced fast bowler Pat Cummins misses out on selection for the second consecutive time in the Ashes 2025-26.
According to reports from Cricket.com.au, Pat Cummins has been given an additional period of two weeks to complete his rehabilitation from the lumbar back stress that sidelined him from the first Ashes match at Perth.
But Usman Khawaja, who could not bat in the second innings of the Perth Test due to a back spasm, has been named in the squad.
Thus, the veteran cricketer Steve Smith will again lead the Australian side for the second time in the ongoing Ashes series. Apart from the stand-in skipper, the likes of Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, and Marnus Labuschagne will have a major say in the batting department for Australia.
As for the bowling unit, Mitchell Starc, the bowler who was very helpful in Australia winning the Perth Test against very low scores with a ten-for, will be the spearhead of the attack along with Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon, and Brendan Doggett.
The Ashes series is in favor of Australia at 1-0 after the Perth Test was won by them in just two days. On the other hand, England led by Ben Stokes would be very eager to equal the score thus making the contest at the Gabba really exciting.
Australia Squad for the 2nd Ashes 2025 Test
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