The Australian skipper has claimed 309 Test scalps in 71 Test matches with an impressive average.
The Australian selection chief Bailey has stated that captain Pat Cummins will play a "major part" in the upcoming historic rivalry.
There were concerns that the 32-year-old might be unavailable due to a stress fracture in his back that had not yet healed.
Previous updates from the Australian camp suggested no final decision had been made regarding Cummins' participation, with the extended contest kicking off on November 21 in Western Australia.
Bailey expressed that Cummins is "building up" and felt positive about his chances of being involved.
"We're aware that the clock is ticking and there are permutations involved, not just the physical problem, but additional elements," he commented.
"The outlook is good. [We are] really confident that he will feature a major part. With luck from the opening match. If not, we'll adjust."
Previous Setbacks
The captain missed the white-ball matches against India and New Zealand in the previous weeks after medical tests showed a lumbar bone stress.
He has a history of back injuries, with setbacks in multiple past seasons leading to absences from several home seasons in four years.
The bowler mentioned he would be ""aggressive" and "take risks" in his comeback strategy to make the squad for the contest.
He mentioned that it was unclear if he had started his bowling workouts as part of his recovery but acknowledged it was "becoming urgent" for him to recover fully for the first Test.
Backup Options
If he's unavailable, veteran batsman Smith will take over the captaincy.
The talented all-rounder was excluded lately from Australia's squad for their one-day international series against India as a safety move because of soreness in his side.
He labeled it as a "small issue and confirmed that he'll feature in the domestic first-class competition, so will be "ideally positioned to resume bowling."
"We put so much time has gone into creating the schedule for him to take part for the first Test as an batting and bowling option," the selector detailed.
"His involvement was limited to the starting games in any case. His aggressive style the bat in limited-overs, if it causes any delay for a short period, we just made the decision to approach this more conservatively."
Series Schedule
The Ashes: Australia v England
Spanning from late 2025 to early 2026
