Armchair critics should give Pat’s job a go

Sure, Pat Cummins has had a bad couple of days as captain but when did the Australian cricket fan become so fickle?

Pat Cummins arrives as rain delays the start of play on day five of the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford Picture: AFP

How, as the man in the big suit might ask, did I get here? When did the Australian cricket fan become so fickle?

They’ve always hated Pat Cummins over in the stalls where they bray mindlessly about his stance on environmental issues (groan) and whine endlessly about lecturing that doesn’t exist. These are claims as foolish as they are irrelevant.

Another mob has turned now and joined the protesters, they’ve had enough of his hopeless leadership because, well, Australia has lost a Test or two.

That’s the side that won the World Test Championship final. The same one that managed to get 2-0 up in the Ashes and the one that is still a chance to be the only Australian side to win an Ashes series in England for 22 years.

It is true, Cummins had a stinker on day two at Old Trafford. Day three wasn’t much better. It is true that the captain wears the ultimate blame.

No matter how many coaches and analysts and experts are feeding information or drafting strategies, the buck stops fairly and squarely with the skipper.

Cummins was dismissed first ball he faced day two, missed a catch and then turned out the most expensive bowling innings of his career (1-129 off 23 overs).

It was never ideal appointing a bowling captain, but Cummins has been level headed and excellent in the task, on and off the field, up to this point.

He guided the side through an ugly fallout with a powerful group of former stars over the Justin Langer dismissal, defending his men in even, but firm, tones.

Cummins has led a side that has kept its head down and its mouth shut and got on with the game. Maybe they are, as some argue, too nice.

However, the results are in and they were the best-performed side in world cricket across the last two-year period.

Winning overseas is the hardest thing to do in cricket. Conditions are catered to undo you, the hostility of the stands something to behold and not something easy to block out. Home sides ride an extraordinary wave of goodwill, visiting teams are treated to relentless, often vile, abuse.

As Steve Smith and David Warner searched on their bellies for a ball that had slipped under the covers on day three, 9000 people in the stand above sang “we saw you cry on the telly”.

It is relentless, but that’s sport and most of the players can deal with that, few admit it seeps in.

Australia has had as bad a few days as you can have on a cricket field as any side, but they all have them. At times it was hard to watch. Cricket does that to you, England’s Bazball brand does that to you by the bucketload.

When England’s batters are up and about, batting like it doesn’t matter, there’s not too many tactics that work. As a captain, you might feel like a person trying to have a rational debate with somebody who is shouting. No matter how good a point you make, you are being drowned out.

It just does not stop. On days like the second and third at Old Trafford, Cummins and his fielders must have felt as if they were playing four T20 innings in the field. Periods of play that once could be measured in hours, or bowling spells or session, are sashimi sliced. Every ball is an event.

Dan Vettori said it was a “perfect storm”. Harry Brook, who averages 64, got a few lucky breaks and had the sort of day you dream of. Jonny Bairstow, who cost England the first two Tests, did a bit of declaration batting when there was no declaration coming. Joe Root had a blinder. And so on.

Not much went right and the Australians often looked clueless, but as Tim Paine – who has been there before – said, it’s a damn sight easier on what should be done from the couch than it is in the middle of the battle.