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You could wonder whether the Australian cricket board intentionally chooses to be opaque about player availability or simply lacks effectiveness in communications, but once again, the health status of athletes and the makeup of the XI must be deduced from the 14-player squad announcement for the second Ashes Test.

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

Cummins is the surprise for his omission, with the team skipper and pace spearhead deep into his recovery from initial symptoms of a back injury. The only public acknowledgment was a cursory line with the team announcement stating that “Pat Cummins will travel to Brisbane to further his training.”

Suggestions from within CA support the view that everything is on track and his recovery remains happily on track, with a probable return to the side soon. In theory, he might still be added to the Test squad in the next few days if deemed fit by staff. But still, the explanations seem inconsistent.

Recalling when Cummins’ scans were cleared in October, starting the clock on his return to play, all official statements from the player and board schedules indicated he would just be unavailable for the initial match and was set to practice at nearly full tilt with the team during the match. The head coach remarked, “Cummins will be fit to bowl in Perth, and people will be sitting there questioning why he’s not playing.”

After returning to Sydney following the team’s raucous two-day win, he was seen bowling in the New South Wales nets without any apparent limitations and, most notably, was using a pink Kookaburra ball, presumably as preparation for the day-night Test.

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 the Gabba? Not to mention, there are eight more days of rest between matches. Should he target Adelaide, it will be over two months since he resumed bowling.

That in itself is fine: prognoses can change, medical staff can be conservative, players can be cautious. What’s strange is that during the most anticipated and closely followed Ashes contest in Australia’s calendar, the governing body’s representatives seem not to think it reasonable to share any information about the skipper’s condition or the changing nature of either.

If care is the priority with the captain, the reverse is true with Khawaja’s back injury. He had spasms flare up in Perth during two paltry fielding innings, keeping Australia’s usual opener from doing so in both innings and from making an impact when he eventually batted. Even if his symptoms have subsided, the fact he’d not experienced them before surely leaves some risk that they could return in the heat of the next Test.

His inclusion logically means he is due to resume opening the batting, even though Travis Head made a record-setting century in his place. He wouldn’t be selected as a reserve or to play lower. But again, there is no confirmation about this, just the selection.

It isn’t necessary that teams should have to give a full lineup when announcing selections, and strategies may shift. However, certain decisions are clearer than others, and considering how Head’s whirlwind drew fan interest, it would cause no issue to confirm where both batsmen are due to bat. Some uncertainty in sports is a positive, but manufacturing it out of the broadly obvious is needless. If you’re in the business of winning over audiences, transparency is crucial.