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You could wonder whether the Australian cricket board deliberately prefers to be opaque about player availability or simply has a deficiency in communications, but yet again, the health status of athletes and final team composition must be inferred from the 14-player squad announcement for the Brisbane match.

Typically, an identical team list would not be much news, but on this occasion it is, thanks to the possible movement involving Pat Cummins and Usman Khawaja, neither of which has now eventuated.

The unexpected element is Cummins for his omission, with the regular captain and fast-bowling leader progressing in rehabilitation from early signs of a back injury. The only public acknowledgment was a cursory line with the squad release stating that “Pat Cummins will travel to Brisbane to further his training.”

Suggestions from within CA indicate that everything is on track and his healing is proceeding well, with a probable return to the team in the near future. Theoretically, Cummins could even join the Test squad in the next few days if he and management so choose. However, something the claims doesn’t add up.

Recalling when his medical tests came back positive in last month, initiating the countdown on his buildup to match fitness, all official statements from the player and board schedules indicated he would just be unavailable for the first Test and was scheduled to train 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.”

Once Cummins got back to his home city following the team’s raucous two-day win, he was seen bowling in the New South Wales nets without any apparent limitations and, importantly, was using a pink Kookaburra ball, what one would assume as preparation for the day-night Test.

So, why the change of plans, more than four weeks since Cummins said he would need a month to prepare his workload, and with six days until the first ball in the Gabba? 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 resumed bowling.

That in itself is fine: medical opinions evolve, doctors may be cautious, players can be cautious. It’s just peculiar is that during the most anticipated and closely followed Ashes contest in the season, the board officials seem not to think it reasonable to share any information about the skipper’s condition or the changing nature of either.

And if caution is the watchword with the captain, the reverse is true with the opener’s issue. He had muscle spasms in the first Test during brief periods on the field, preventing the regular batsman from doing so in the match and from having any influence when he eventually batted. Even if his symptoms have subsided, the fact he’d not experienced them before creates concern that they could return in the heat of the next Test.

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. Khawaja wouldn’t be picked 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 whole XI when announcing selections, and plans can change. However, certain decisions are clearer than others, and given the way Head’s whirlwind captured public attention, it would do no harm to clarify where both batsmen are slotted to play. Some uncertainty in sports is a positive, but creating it out of the broadly obvious is needless. For those aiming of winning over audiences, communication goes a long way.