Pat Cummins’ hopes of returning for the second Test of The Ashes have been quashed, with the Australia captain remaining outside of the squad for the day-night contest against England at the Gabba.

Meanwhile, Usman Khawaja has been retained in the squad amid his battle with a back problem, giving no clues over the shape of Australia’s top order for the pink-ball clash.

Australia’s squad for the second Test is unchanged, with Cummins not coming into contention for selection despite having another lengthy bowl in the SCG nets on Friday morning.

Cricket Australia’s squad announcement said the 32-year-old would head to Brisbane to “continue his preparations”.

The captain was sidelined before the start of the series by a bout of bone stress in his back but has put together several training sessions operating at his top pace over the last two weeks.

Cummins trained alongside hamstrung seamer Josh Hazlewood on Friday morning, who was bowling off a shortened run-up.

Rumours Hazlewood may miss the entire series which emerged during the Perth Test have been played down but no timeline for his return has been made public.

As he battled back spasms which emerged on the first day, veteran opener Khawaja was not able to take his place at the top of the order in either innings of the first Test in Perth, which saw Australia cruise to an eight-wicket win inside two days.

He eventually appeared at No.4 in the first innings after Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith were forced to shuffle up from their customary positions but made only two before departing caught behind.

In the second innings, Australia boldly opted to have No.5 Travis Head open the batting, where the South Australian smashed a match-winning 123 from only 83 balls to create sustained debate over whether the move should be made permanent.

Speaking to reporters earlier in the week, Australia coach Andrew McDonald turned down the opportunity to guarantee Khawaja’s place in the side for the game at his adopted home ground, saying any call would firstly be dependent on his fitness.

In the absence of Cummins and Hazlewood, Scott Boland and Brendan Doggett completed Australia’s pace attack alongside man of the match Mitchell Starc in Perth, with veteran seamer Michael Neser also in the squad as cover.