Pat Cummins will miss the second Ashes Test at the Gabba after selectors opted to take a cautious approach with Australia’s captain.

Selectors on Friday named an unchanged squad for the day-night Test against England, with Usman Khawaja holding his spot in the 14-man group.

A call on the final XI won’t be made until closer to Thursday, when the series resumes in Brisbane, with questions around Khawaja’s form and fitness likely to linger over the coming days.

But any hope Cummins had of playing in the second Test is now over, despite Australia’s best bowler showing promising signs with his back.

Cummins spent a little over an hour bowling with a pink ball to Steve Smith in the SCG nets on Friday morning, boosting hopes of a return.

He will travel to Brisbane with squad, but now won’t play until at least the third Test in Adelaide on December 17.

It means Brendan Doggett will likely hold his spot in Australia’s bowling attack, alongside Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon.

Cummins has not played in a match since Australia completed a clean sweep of the West Indies in July, when he first noticed soreness in his back.

After being ruled out of the first Test in Perth, both he and coaching staff had eyed off next Thursday’s day-night match in Brisbane as a potential return date.

It is understood the 32-year-old has not suffered any further injury, and selectors want to play it safe with tight turnarounds over the final three Tests of the series.

Josh Hazlewood is also keen to return for the second half of the series, after bowling in the nets alongside Cummins on Friday.

Hazlewood bowled for around 45 minutes on a shortened run, as he plots his return from the hamstring strain that ruled him out of Perth.

The other question for selectors is Khawaja, after his back spasms opened the door for Travis Head’s match-winning century opening in the fourth innings in Perth.

Khawaja is desperate to overcome back spasms and feature at the Gabba, but there are growing calls for Head to move to open permanently.

That would allow Beau Webster to return in the middle order, with Matt Renshaw’s hopes of playing at the Gabba also over after being left out of the squad.

Khawaja’s 232 in Sri Lanka last January is one of just two scores the 38-year-old has made above 50 in his past 27 Test innings.

AUSTRALIA’S SQUAD FOR SECOND ASHES TEST: Steve Smith (capt), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster.