Cricket Australia chief selector George Bailey has confirmed that veteran batter Steve Smith will captain the Australian Test side in the upcoming Ashes if regular skipper Pat Cummins fails to recover from his back injury in time. Cummins, who sustained the injury during the Test series against the West Indies in July 2025, has already been ruled out of Australia’s upcoming white-ball series against India starting October 19. With his recovery still uncertain, the star pacer could also miss the first Ashes Test, scheduled to begin on November 21 in Perth.

In such a case, Smith is expected to step in as the stand-in captain – a familiar responsibility for the former skipper.

“If Pat doesn’t play, Smudge (Smith) will captain. That’s business as usual for us. That formula has worked,” Bailey told the Sydney Morning Herald. “Regardless of whether he’s playing, Pat’s keen to be around because if he’s not playing, he’ll be rehabbing and getting ready and bowling, so he’ll be with the team anyway. So that information flow and working together as captain and vice-captain will remain the same.”

Smith Returns to Australia, Begins Ashes Preparation

Steve Smith has returned from New York and wasted no time getting back into preparation mode. The 35-year-old was seen batting at the nets at the Cricket New South Wales (NSW) headquarters just a day after landing back in Australia. He is also set to feature in the next two rounds of the Sheffield Shield for NSW in Brisbane and Sydney.

“Steve landed and he was at Cricket NSW the next day batting. So he’ll do his thing. We’ve tried to tailor everyone’s prep to suit them and certain obligations around that, but very comfortably he’ll be ready to go,” Bailey added.

England Announce Squad for Ashes 2025

While Australia are yet to announce their squad, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has already revealed its lineup for the marquee series. Ben Stokes will lead the side, with Harry Brook appointed as his deputy. The squad also features the return of pace trio Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, and Ben Stokes, all of whom are continuing their recoveries from injury.

However, veteran all-rounder Chris Woakes, who has 192 Test wickets and over 2000 runs, has missed out on selection.

England squad: Ben Stokes (captain), Harry Brook (vice-captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Mark Wood.