New Australian Test captain Pat Cummins insists nothing will change from his team's approach despite England's decision to omit veteran quick Jimmy Anderson on the eve of the Ashes opener in Brisbane.

While the hosts have overcome Tim Paine's fall from grace to come into the first Test with a settled line-up, the tourists confirmed on Tuesday Anderson will not play at the Gabba.

Cummins, who'll become Australia's 47th Test captain on Wednesday, says the 39-year-old's absence has no bearing on how he and his team will play.

"Coming into this series I think he might have said it was going to be unlikely he was going to play all five Tests anyway," Cummins said.

"He's obviously a great player and it's a shame that he won't be out there tomorrow but it doesn't change what we're going to do."

Anderson's omission clouds further just who will be picked by the tourists for the series-opener.

Opener Haseeb Hameed's place at the top of the batting order is under a question mark while Ollie Pope or Jonny Bairstow are contenders to bat at No.6 with Ben Stokes making his much-anticipated return.

Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson and Jack Leach are now the tourists' leading options with the ball without Anderson.

The visitors may be tempted to pick four pacemen, although Stokes' inclusion is a boost to left-arm spinner Leach's hopes.

In contrast Cummins confirmed Australia's XI on Sunday, ensuring there's no selection concerns in the lead-up to the Test.

Travis Head has won the race to bat at No.5 while Alex Carey is the new wicketkeeper following Paine's resignation as captain and decision to take time away from the game due to a sexting scandal.

Cummins has also stuck by left-armer Mitchell Starc despite some calls for the quick to be replaced by up-and-comer Jhye Richardson.

"We've had our XI set for a couple of weeks now so I won't change much," Cummins said.

"I've had a look at the wicket, looks like a normal, really good Gabba wicket.

"The weather looks to be a little bit more encouraging than it was perhaps a few days ago.

"So I don't see it being too different from a normal Gabba start to the summer."

Wednesday's action begins at 10am AEST with scattered showers and thunderstorms forecast for the first three days of play.

The weather is expected to clear somewhat on Saturday with further showers forecast for Sunday.