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One might speculate whether the Australian cricket board deliberately prefers to be unclear about player availability or simply has a deficiency in communications, but once again, the fitness of players 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 attract attention, but on this occasion it is, due to the possible movement 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 deep into his recovery from early signs of a back injury. The sole official statement was a cursory line with the team announcement stating that “Pat Cummins will travel to Brisbane to further his training.”

Suggestions from within CA indicate that this is all situation normal and his recovery remains happily on track, with a likely addition to the side soon. In theory, he might still be added to the Brisbane squad in coming days if he and management so choose. However, the explanations seem inconsistent.

Going back to when Cummins’ scans were cleared in last month, starting the clock on his buildup to match fitness, all public commentary from the player and timelines from CA suggested he would just be unavailable for the initial match and was set to practice at close to full intensity with the squad in Perth. The head coach remarked, “He will be up and bowling 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 state facilities without any apparent limitations and, most notably, was using a pink Kookaburra ball, presumably as readiness for the Brisbane day-night game.

What prompted the shift, well over a month since Cummins said he would need four weeks to build up his workload, and with less than a week to go in Brisbane? Not to mention, there are over a week’s break between Brisbane and the third Test. If the latter is Cummins’ destination, it will be more than seven weeks since he started training again.

This is acceptable: medical opinions evolve, doctors may be cautious, players can be cautious. It’s just peculiar is that during the most anticipated and closely followed Test series in Australia’s calendar, the board officials seem not to think it reasonable to share updates about the skipper’s condition or the evolving status of either.

And if caution is the watchword with Cummins, the opposite applies with the opener’s issue. He had spasms flare up in the first Test during brief periods on the field, preventing the regular batsman from doing so in the match and from making an impact when he eventually batted. Though he may have improved, 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 suggests he is due to resume opening the batting, even though Travis Head made a record-setting century in his place. Khawaja wouldn’t be picked as a reserve or to bat down the order. But again, there is no confirmation about this, just the selection.

This doesn’t mean that teams should have to give a full lineup when announcing selections, and plans can change. However, certain decisions are clearer than others, and given the way Head’s whirlwind drew fan interest, it would do no harm to confirm where those two players are slotted to play. Some uncertainty in life is a positive, but creating it out of the clearly evident is unnecessary. For those aiming of winning over audiences, transparency is crucial.