Cummins was speaking at the MCG on Sunday ahead of the first ODI of the summer against Pakistan, which will be his first international appearance since June’s T20 World Cup after missing the UK tour in September.

McSweeney was the standout performer of the four and is almost certainly set to make the Test squad, given that two batsmen will need to be selected in an extended 13 to ensure there is a concussion replacement in the batting with the Perth team. Harris started both innings without giving up a walk, while Konstas and Bancroft each missed twice.

Cummins said he had been watching the scores from Mackay and pointed out the quartet would likely get another chance to impress in the second four-day game at the MCG starting on Thursday. But he added that the Australia A games are not the most important in terms of selection for the first Test.

“I think it’s like a final piece of information,” Cummins said. “It’s never as clean as a club. Some of these guys have only played a few games of Shield cricket and then you have other guys who have played for over a decade.

“Those last two weeks, is it really important? It has some importance, but will not 100% guide the decision. So it’s that final part of the decision.

“In some ways it’s a lot of pressure on these last two games, which, whether you like it or not, is probably what you’re going to get in Test cricket anyway. So I guess, again, whoever gets picked, they’ve had as much pressure as they could on a Test debut anyway, so it means they’re pretty well placed.”

Cummins was not worried about leaving the decision quite late, given that Australia’s current selection panel and management group have preferred to give players more certainty in the recent past.

“I don’t think it’s a new problem,” Cummins said. “The good thing is, if it’s to say that batting role that we’re looking at, whoever they picked, they’re going to come out behind a lot of runs early in the year, you’d think they would. You will be well positioned. In reality, you’re trying to make a debut as comfortable as possible for someone who’s going to wake up one morning and be told they’re playing for sure they’ll know in at least a week, I imagine.

“You could,” Cummins said. “Again, maybe once we start discussing who’s side, then you start looking at the batting order.

“Ronnie (Andrew McDonald) and I have said it quite a bit, we think where you bat is not that important. Try to figure out how the batting order will work best as a whole. And I don’t. I don’t think anyone should be super protective of a certain place.”

Cummins, meanwhile, said he felt as physically fresh as he had for a long time after skipping the T20I and ODI tour in Great Britain to undergo a significant training block in Sydney to prepare for the summer. He also explained his decision not to play a Shield game before the first Test.

“The one I should have played here in Melbourne, I probably should have started bowling two or three weeks earlier,” he said. “So I made the decision to have an extra two weeks of training in the gym and prioritize that. I feel I have done it for a while now and I feel the ODIs will give me a good edge. In advance, and obviously two weeks before the first Test, we’ll make sure we do a lot of red and center balloons to try and replicate it.”

Cummins said he is not sure if he will play all three ODIs against Pakistan. He has confirmed he will play the first two but will reportedly miss the final game in Perth to avoid a return flight, a week before he has to make the same trip for the Perth Test.

If he misses the Perth match, it will mean Australia will have to find a captain, with ODI vice-captain Mitchell Marsh missing the series on paternity leave.

Smith and Josh Hazlewood have both led the ODI squad previously, but there is a possibility that both may be rested from the trip to Perth for the same reasons as Cummins.