Australia 'confident' on Cummins for Champions Trophy

Pat Cummins will be given as long as possible to recover from an ankle injury so he can captain Australia in the Champions Trophy.

The star quick will miss Australia's two-Test series against Sri Lanka, mainly due to the birth of his second child, but also to rest after the gruelling battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Cummins was today included in Australia's preliminary 15-man squad for the 19-day 50-over tournament in Pakistan.

Men's national selection chair George Bailey remains confident the 31-year-old will be available, with Australia's first game against England in Lahore on February 22.

Cummins recently had a scan on his ankle but Bailey was unsure was the results of that were.

"I want to give him a little bit of space at the back end of the Border-Gavaskar; obviously baby pending," Bailey said.

"We'll work through that with Pat and obviously the selection panel and the medical team ... but I know he's very keen."

Under ICC guidelines, Australia needed to name a squad on Monday, but can change it for injuries at any time before the tournament starts.

Bailey said there was no timeline on when a final call would be made on Cummins' fitness.

Star quick Josh Hazlewood has been named after missing three of the five Border-Gavaskar Tests due to injury.

Hazlewood is continuing his recovery from a calf strain suffered in the third Test in Brisbane last month and miss the Tests in Sri Lanka but will return for a one-off ODI in the country following the red-ball series.

Aggressive young opener Jake Fraser-McGurk played five ODIs for Australia last year but has been left out of the squad.

Fraser-McGurk has endured a difficult domestic season after dominating in the Indian Premier League last season.

The 22-year-old is averaging just 10.75 for Melbourne Renegades in the ongoing KFC BBL|14 season.

"As far as Jake goes, he's still very young, we know that's going to be a journey," Bailey said.

"The skill set is still incredibly exciting."

Australia have not won the Champions Trophy since 2009, with India and Pakistan having triumphed in the two editions since then.

Should Cummins miss the tournament, Australia could draw from a group of Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Travis Head and Josh Hazlewood to captain the side, with all four having led the white-ball team at various times over the past three years.

Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey will travel to Pakistan, despite being usurped by Josh Inglis as Australia's white-ball gloveman during the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Carey played in the same XI as Inglis during an ODI in England last year.

2025 ICC Men's Champions Trophy

Australia preliminary squad: Pat Cummins (c), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

Australia Group B fixtures

February 22: Australia v England, Lahore (8pm AEDT)

February 25: Australia v South Africa, Rawalpindi (8pm AEDT)

February 28: Afghanistan v Australia, Lahore (8pm AEDT)

March 4: Semi-final 1, Dubai (8pm AEDT)

March 5: Semi-final 2, Lahore (8pm AEDT)

March 9: Final, Lahore or Dubai (8pm AEDT)