Hazlewood out of Ashes, Cummins confirmed for Adelaide

Pat Cummins will return to captain Australia for the third Ashes Test in Adelaide next week but Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the series with an Achilles issue with his recovery now set to focus on getting ready for the T20 World Cup.

Usman Khawaja is also expected to be fit and available for Adelaide, with Australia set to be announce a 15-man squad on Tuesday featuring Cummins as the only addition. Coach Andrew McDonald told reporters the selectors are open to batting Khawaja in the middle order after his absence through a back injury has seen a new opening pairing in Travis Head and Jake Weatherald excel in the first two Tests in Perth and Brisbane.

McDonald gave an update on Cummins and Hazlewood on Tuesday, confirming that the captain was ready to return.

"His body's ready to go and barring anything else happening in the next week, I'd be expecting Pat to be tossing the coin and putting the blazer on," McDonald said

He also confirmed that Hazlewood would play no further part in the series after suffering an Achilles issue following on from his hamstring strain.

"Unfortunately, Josh won't be a part of the Ashes," McDonald said. "Really, really flat for him. A couple of setbacks that we didn't see coming, and we thought he would play a huge part in the series.

"It's a totally separate injury. It's somewhere lower in the calf to Achilles region. His preparation will then shift towards the World Cup, which is an incredibly important campaign for us."

McDonald said there are no concerns over Cummins' preparation heading into Adelaide despite not played any cricket since July coming off a lumbar bone stress injury. He added the selectors were very close to picking him in Brisbane.

"There won't be any match opportunities for Pat, and this is something we've done with Pat before, off long layoffs, where we've put some time and effort into rebuilding his body," McDonald said. "He was out at Allan Border Field, whilst everyone was out at the Gabba. So he simulated pretty much what a match will look like out there with multiple spells. So we feel as though he'll be as best prepared as he can be.

"He was well ahead of where we thought he'd be at. And it did create a real live conversation for Brisbane, the skill readiness, the loads, how he was pulling up. It was debated a lot leading into that Test match. So with that in mind, us seeing him further advanced, we feel it'd be really well placed for the challenges of Adelaide, albeit off a long way off. We feel as though the simulation in the nets have got him skill ready."

Khawaja's return to fitness will create an intriguing conversation at the selection table. Khawaja will turn 39 during the Adelaide Test and will be the first Australian Test player in 40 years to play at the age of 39 if selected. But the success of Head and Weatherald at the top as created a conundrum.

The new pair have shared two 70-plus stands in Perth and Brisbane in rapid time to take both games away from England. Australia had only had three half-century stands in their previous 14 Tests since David Warner retired, with Head involved in one of them with Khawaja in Sri Lanka.

"It worked at this point in time," McDonald said. "Pink-ball Test at the Gabba, we felt like that combination was right for those conditions and the opposition. We will always ask ourselves the question that the selection table as we move in. At our strategy meetings, we'll continue to ask questions on what the best line-up is for that point in time. And we're taking this Test by Test.

"The assumption is that Uzzie can only open as well. So I think that he does have the flexibility. And we like to think that all our batters have the flexibility to be able to perform anywhere in that order. So we've got a collective sort of group of batters there that as a series wears on, the opposition may create some different challenges for us. So we're open to what it will look like for us moving forward."

McDonald also confirmed that Australia still valued spin bowling and the role of Nathan Lyon in their XI despite leaving him out of a home Test for the first time in 13 years. He has missed two of Australia's last three Tests, however McDonald stated it was because both were pink-ball day-night Tests and the coach was adamant Lyon and spin would have a big role to play in the final three Tests in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

"We just value different things in the pink-ball game, and unfortunately, that meant Nathan had to be squeezed," McDonald said. "That's nothing to do with his skill set. Not a reflection on where he's at from his own performance. It is a reflection on pink-ball cricket and a reflection on the surface that was presented to us.

"We still do value spin. The surfaces have pushed us in different directions, and that's the first game that Nathan's missed in Australia for a long time.

"I think Nath is going to have an incredibly huge impact in the last three Test matches. If you look to what he did at the MCG last year, when the surface became benign, sort of day three onwards, he was able to navigate through and hold an end. And that's the rhythm we want.

"We want the spinner down one end and rotating the three quicks. That's when we feel like we're at our best. But you sometimes can't play in spite of what's presented in front of you and some of those decisions have been difficult, and they've been two pink-ball games that have put us in that position."

The likelihood of Cummins and Lyon returning to the XI in Adelaide creates a further selection squeeze. Brendan Doggett is almost certain to miss out but Michael Neser would be unlucky to be omitted after taking his maiden Test five-wicket haul in Brisbane to help swing the game in Australia's favour.

But it appears likely Australia will go with a first-choice attack with no thoughts of resting Scott Boland given there is only a short four-day turnaround between the Adelaide Test and the fourth Test in Melbourne starting on Boxing Day.

"In the pre-planning, which is something we do around the Test matches and work out where the stress points potentially will be, the gap between [Test] one and two and two and three was something we think we could manage, so it would be more than likely the best balanced and available attack for Adelaide," McDonald said. "We wouldn't be thinking about [whether] someone would need a rest there, but it's probably more so in Test match four and five."

McDonald confirmed that his star quick Mitchell Starc had pulled up well following some side soreness during the Gabba Test.

"Starcy had a little bit of a hindrance with, I think it was his left side with a bit of a jamming injury there that probably you saw visibly on TV," he said. "But nothing to worry about. That's something he's had before. It was just annoying during the game. But an incredible workload from him with both bat and ball, and he's pulled up well, which is a real positive for us."