The Australian skipper has secured over 300 dismissals in 71 Test matches with an average of 22.10.
Australia's chief selector George Bailey has confirmed that pace spearhead Cummins will play a "major part" in the forthcoming historic rivalry.
Speculation had been growing that the veteran bowler might miss the series due to a ongoing back issue that remained unresolved.
Previous updates from team management suggested no definitive call had been made regarding Cummins' participation, with the Test matches scheduled to begin on the 21st of November in Western Australia.
Bailey expressed that Cummins is "building up" and was "optimistic" about his chances of being involved.
"It's clear that the window is narrowing and multiple considerations involved, not just the back issue, but additional elements," Bailey remarked.
"The outlook is good. We firmly believe that he will feature a key capacity. With luck from the opening match. If not, we'll reassess."
Previous Setbacks
The captain missed Australia's limited-overs series against New Zealand and India in the previous weeks after scans revealed a stress reaction in his back.
He has a history of recurring issues, with flare-ups in multiple past seasons leading to absences from multiple domestic campaigns in a short span.
He emphasized he would be ""aggressive" and "take risks" in his comeback strategy to make the squad for the Ashes.
He mentioned that there was no confirmation if the captain had resumed bowling as part of his comeback but conceded it was "getting tight" for him to recover fully for the initial match.
Alternative Arrangements
If he's unavailable, veteran batsman Smith will take over the captaincy.
All-rounder Cameron Green was recently pulled out from the national team for their limited-overs matches against India as a safety move because of soreness in his side.
Bailey described it as a "minor" injury and confirmed that he'll feature in the domestic first-class competition, so will be "well-prepared to resume bowling."
"We put so much time has gone into building out the plan for him to be available for the opening match as an all-rounder," he elaborated.
"His involvement was limited to the first two ODIs in any case. His aggressive style the cricket bat in white-ball cricket, should it hinder progress for another day, the choice was made to approach this more conservatively."
Series Schedule
The Ashes: Australia v England
Spanning from late 2025 to early 2026