Ashes 2023: Pat Cummins future as captain under microscope amid bombshell Australian retirement ‘whispers’

Pat Cummins’ future as Australian Test captain has been put under the microscope as former England skipper Michael Vaughan threw a stunning rumour into the public sphere.

Cricketing great Mark Waugh has questioned whether Pat Cummins is the right man to remain Australian Test captain.

Waugh’s view that selectors must have a serious think about whether the fast bowler stays in charge of the side for the long-term came as former England skipper Michael Vaughan threw a stunning rumour into the public sphere on Fox Cricket’s fifth Test Ashes preview that David Warner and Steve Smith might retire from Test cricket at The Oval this week.

Sources close to the Australian camp say the whispers are wide of the mark and no announcements are planned.

Vaughan himself admitted the rumours he’d heard were unsubstantiated.

However, Cummins’ future as captain has been put under a searing microscope, this despite Australia retaining the Ashes.

“I think in India we saw Pat struggle in a couple of Test matches, and then in this series, I think he’s struggled nearly in every Test match,” Former selector Waugh told Fox Cricket’s Ashes preview.

Pat Cummins’ future as captain has been put under a searing microscope. Picture: AFP

“We’ve got a bit lucky leading this series 2-1. We probably should have lost Edgbaston and we probably would have lost Old Trafford so that makes it 3-1 if things had gone normally.

“I just think he’s looked tired. He’s looked frazzled. It’s affecting his bowling, his captaincy, it’s affecting his fielding. He’s dropped catches, and you don’t want that from potentially the best cricketer in your team.

“So I think moving forward they’re going to have to think long and hard about this. Is Pat Cummins the right man for the long term captaincy? Because when it’s tough I don’t think he is.

“I think he’s OK when it’s easy and he doesn’t have to think too much, but it’s a real question mark.”

Waugh said he’s concerned about Cummins’ overall game if he remains Test skipper for the long haul.

“This is the problem with him being captain. If he wasn’t captain I’d say he would definitely rest in this Test match,” Waugh said.

Mark Waugh is concerned about Cummins’ overall game if he remains Test skipper. Picture: AFP

“… I think mentally he just looked burnt out in the field. There was so much pressure on him captaining the side and field placements and his own bowling suffered. He dropped catches in the field, he wasn’t concentrating, he got out first ball with the bat on the second day.

“You can see it’s affecting him and you don’t want that to happen to Pat Cummins because he’s a key player. You don’t’ want him burning out quickly.

“It’s going to be an interesting one to see how long that captaincy does last in his lap.”

The Test great believes Australia has over thought its response to Baz Ball.

“I don’t know why this is happening, whether Pat Cummins is not getting the support on the field, whether he is just forgetting what they had planned pre-game, or whether the knowledge just isn’t good enough under pressure (from senior figures in the camp),” Waugh said.

Meanwhile, it’s understood Warner and Smith have no retirement plans at The Oval despite some scurrilous rumours passing through the Old Trafford press box and picked up by Vaughan.

Steve Smith. Picture: Getty Images

David Warner. Picture: Getty Images

“Well it’s always the case on a rainy day when the journos get a bit bored, and you start talking to a few. But the whisper was and I have no idea where they’re getting this whisper, but that Warner, if he plays at The Oval, it’ll probably be his last,” Vaughan told Fox Cricket.

“Again I’m not too sure where they’ve got that. And quite a strong whisper was about Steve Smith that it could be his last time out for Australia at the Oval as well. Again, I’ve not seen that personally, but it’s just the whisper and the gossip.

“It might just be the rain in Manchester that gets people talking, but that was the talk of the press box yesterday that a couple of Australian legends, greats might call it a day at The Oval.”

Warner needs to maintain the faith of selectors to realise his dream of bowing out of Test cricket at his home the SCG midway through the upcoming home summer. But Smith has been mysterious about his future whenever asked over the past few months’.

It would be disastrous for Australia to lose both all-time greats in the same time period.

In 2015, Michael Clarke and Chris Rogers both retired from Test cricket at The Oval in a fifth Ashes Test double-header.