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You could wonder whether Cricket Australia deliberately prefers to be unclear about team selection or simply has a deficiency in communications, but once again, the fitness of players and final team composition must be deduced from the selection in the larger squad for the Brisbane match.

Normally, an identical team list would not be much news, but on this occasion it is, due to the anticipated changes involving Pat Cummins and Usman Khawaja, neither of which has come to pass.

Cummins is the surprise for not being included, with the regular captain and pace spearhead progressing in rehabilitation from early signs of a back injury. The only public acknowledgment was a cursory line with the team announcement stating that Cummins is scheduled to go to Brisbane to further his training.”

Suggestions from within CA indicate that everything is on track and his healing is proceeding well, with a likely addition to the side soon. In theory, he might still be added to the Test squad in coming days if deemed fit by staff. But still, something the claims doesn’t add up.

Going back to when Cummins’ scans were cleared in last month, starting the clock on his return to play, all public commentary from the player and board schedules suggested he would just be unavailable for the initial match and was set to practice at close to full intensity with the team during the match. The head coach remarked, “He will be up and bowling in Perth, and people will be sitting there questioning why he’s not playing.”

Once Cummins got back to Sydney following the victory in the west, he was observed practicing in the New South Wales nets without any visible restrictions and, most notably, was using a pink Kookaburra ball, what one would assume as readiness for the Brisbane day-night game.

What prompted the shift, more than four weeks since he indicated requiring a month to prepare his workload, and with six days until the first ball in Brisbane? Not to mention, there are eight more days of rest between matches. If the latter is Cummins’ destination, it will be more than seven weeks since he resumed bowling.

That in itself is fine: prognoses can change, doctors may be cautious, athletes might take care. What’s strange is that during the most anticipated and closely followed Ashes contest in Australia’s calendar, the governing body’s representatives don’t appear to consider it reasonable to share any information about the skipper’s condition or the changing nature of either.

And if caution is the watchword with Cummins, the reverse is true with the opener’s issue. He had spasms flare up in the first Test during brief periods on the field, keeping Australia’s usual opener from doing so in both innings and from having any influence when he eventually batted. Even if his symptoms have subsided, the newness of the problem surely leaves some risk that they might recur in the pressure of Brisbane.

With Khawaja in the squad suggests he is set to return to the top order, even though his replacement scored a historic hundred in Perth. He wouldn’t be selected as a backup or to bat down the order. But again, there is no official information about this, only the squad listing.

It isn’t necessary that teams should have to give a whole XI when announcing selections, and strategies may shift. But some plans are firmer than others, and considering how Head’s whirlwind captured public attention, it would do no harm to clarify where both batsmen are due to bat. Some uncertainty in life is a good thing, but creating it out of the clearly evident is unnecessary. If you’re in the business of engaging fans, transparency is crucial.