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The Australian chief selector George Bailey has declared that skipper Cummins will have a crucial role in this winter's historic rivalry.

Speculation had been growing that the 32-year-old might miss the series due to a ongoing back issue that had not yet healed.

Initial reports from the Australian camp suggested no final decision had been made regarding whether he would play, with the Test matches kicking off on the 21st of November in Perth.

Bailey expressed that his recovery is on track and felt positive about his chances of taking part.

"We know that time is getting short and multiple considerations around that, not just the back issue, but other factors as well," Bailey remarked.

"It's positive. We firmly believe that he will feature a major part. Ideally it's the first Test. Otherwise, we'll adjust."

Previous Setbacks

He was sidelined the white-ball matches against India and New Zealand in the previous weeks after medical tests showed a lower back issue.

There is a track record of recurring issues, with flare-ups in multiple past seasons leading to absences from several home seasons in four years.

The bowler mentioned he would be bold in recovery efforts in his comeback strategy to secure his spot for the contest.

Bailey noted that he did not know if he had started his bowling workouts as part of his rehabilitation but conceded it was "pressing" for him to recover fully for the initial match.

Backup Options

If he's unavailable, veteran batsman Smith will take over the captaincy.

Versatile player Green was recently pulled out from Australia's squad for their limited-overs matches against India as a safety move because of discomfort in his torso.

He labeled it as a "small issue and stated that he's scheduled to appear in the state-level matches, so will be "ideally positioned to deliver overs."

"Extensive planning has gone into building out the plan for him to participate for the opening match as an batting and bowling option," he elaborated.

"He was only going to play the starting games in any case. How he handles the willow in shorter formats, if it causes any delay for another day, we just made the decision to approach this more conservatively."

Series Schedule

The Historic Rivalry

Spanning from late 2025 to early 2026