There’s tricky, and there’s too tricky by half. On the morning of the start of the second Test match in Brisbane, Australia had still not announced its final XI.

Steve Smith said, “We’ll wait and see what the wicket looks like, and from there we’ll determine a playing XI.” If you buy that, here’s a set of steak knives.

Pat Cummins bowls in the nets in Brisbane.Credit: Getty Images

Patrick Cummins, ready or not? That wasn’t dependent on how many centimetres of grass were left unshaven. Nor was it resolved by Cummins being left out of the squad, but not “ruled out” of playing. By leaving the question open, Australia knew what they were doing with Cummins: deploying him as a bogey man.

Nathan Lyon, in........

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