Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has been left out of the white-ball squads to face England this month alongside fellow veteran seamers Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.

Cummins, 33, endured a hugely unproductive series in the 2-1 defeat in South Africa recently, taking just six wickets across three Tests at an average of 54.

And with the Ashes now just seven months away, he appears to have been battling a technical issue that is limiting his force as a fast bowler.

Cummins has been crossing his feet in his stride pattern during his run-up, reducing the speed of his burst through the crease in releasing the ball, and he will look to regain rhythm ahead of next month’s home Tests against New Zealand rather than feature against England across eight limited-overs games.

Australia are effectively following England’s lead in selection policy, with Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson missing the five Twenty20 matches in a bid to be ready for their own tour of South Africa that spans Christmas.

None of the Aussie dad’s army trio - who will boast a combined age of 107 when they try to defend the urn here next summer - have been picked for the three ODIs starting on 13 November in Perth.

Cummins and Hazlewood have also been left out for the five-match T20 series that follows, while left-armer Starc has already retired from the shortest format.

Western Australia’s raw paceman Mahli Beardman, 21, has been named in both squads while uncapped wicketkeeper-batsmen Sam Harper and Lachlan Shaw have been included for the T20s.

Although Cummins remains Australia’s official one-day captain, a combination of a stress fracture of the back that limited his participation in the 2025-26 Ashes and a reluctance to overdo his workload has limited his involvement on the international scene over the last couple of years and Mitchell Marsh has become the de facto 50-over leader in addition to marshalling the T20 side.

Nathan Ellis, a Twenty20 Blast winner with Hampshire four years ago, is only included in the T20 squad after suffering a side strain during September’s ODI tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe, while Gloucestershire all-rounder Liam Scott, who played one 50-over match against Bangladesh in June, is recalled.

Meanwhile, Mark Wood, another bowler whose Ashes participation was curtailed by an injury blow last winter, has flown to the Caribbean to join England Lions’ coaching team.

Wood, 36, announced his international retirement in September following specialist advice on his ongoing left knee injury and will combine mentoring the bowlers under Lions head coach Jonathan Trott with media work with Sky Sports. 

He will be part of Sky’s commentary team for the Tests between South Africa and England in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town between 17 December and 7 January.

One person missing from the Lions’ travelling party to Saint Kitts & Nevis is Glamorgan batsman Asa Tribe, who was not permitted to enter the country after travelling to Kenya last month to play for his native Jersey against the hosts, Kuwait and Papua New Guinea.

Concerns over an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Kenya led to Saint Kitts enforcing a 21-day block on non-nationals who have been in Kenya, and so Tribe, 22, has returned to the UK.

The ECB have since inquired about the possibility of a waiver being issued so that Tribe can join up with a tour of seven matches in length - the second against West Indies A takes place on Tuesday/today - but are not overly hopeful.