Captain Cool Pat Cummins in the pink for home Test in Ashes series

On the eve of his first Test at home as captain, Pat Cummins has the comfortable demeanour of a man who wants for nothing.

Test captain Pat Cummins at his home ground the SCG on Tuesday ahead of the fourth Ashes Test match between Australia and England. Picture: Phil Hillyard / SCG

On the eve of his first Test at home as captain of Australia, with the Ashes urn secured over Christmas, Pat Cummins has the comfortable demeanour and ­serene look of a man who wants for nothing.

While everything has turned to dirt for the English, the Australians have made the most of every crisis and lead the series 3-0 with two games to play.

News that Cummins’ fast bowling partner Josh Hazlewood had not completely recovered from an injury that kept him out of the Boxing Day game was greeted with a shrug. After all, it gave selectors a chance to give Scott Boland a second Test which seemed fair enough after he took 6-7 and was named man of the match in Melbourne.

England captain Joe Root inspects the wicket during a net session at Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday. Picture: Getty Images

Cummins had similar success in his Test debut for Australia in South Africa in 2011 when he was just 18, but injury kept him out of the team until he was fit for a game in Ranchi, India, in 2017.

“I spent about five years sitting on one Test and I hated it when people talked about it because I felt I hadn’t proven anything. I’d only played one Test match,” Cummins said.

“It’s just great. He’s bowling as well as he ever has. It’s just great he can keep going from last week and have another crack here.

“I doubt that it is going to be six or seven (wickets), but I did say to him ‘we’ll take last week – no need to try any harder’.”

Tough times are a distant memory for the boy from the Blue Mountains who inherited the side from Tim Paine on the eve of the Ashes.

English all-rounder Ben Stokes trains at the SCG on Tuesday. Picture: Getty Images

Travis Head, star of the Brisbane Test, has been ruled out of the side after testing positive for Covid-19 before the side flew to Sydney and has been replaced by Usman Khawaja.

Khawaja was raised in a small apartment near the SCG and made his debut there in 2011 in the final Test of a series that Australia lost 3-1.

He made his first and only Ashes century at the SCG in the corresponding game of the last ­series.

England has not won any of the 13 Tests it has played here since Khawaja’s debut, but it did manage a draw in the Boxing Day match of 2016-17.

The Australian team had an interesting trip from Melbourne. Marcus Harris was forced to drive from Melbourne with emergencies Mitch Marsh and Josh Inglis.

The opener, who was ruled a close contact of Head, was not allowed on the team’s charter flight, but will at least get a game.

England's Jonny Bairstow leaves a ball in the SCG nets on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

England has lost its head coach, bowling coach, spin coach and strength coach to the virus and has called up former player Adam Hollioake to assist the rest of the training squad.

The Englishman and his girlfriend drove from the Gold Coast to Sydney only to discover on ­arrival that he too was positive.

Cummins was generous when asked about the plight of the defeated opposition.

“I think that they have sacrificed quite a lot to come over here,” he said. “A couple of weeks in quarantine, time away from families, some restrictions on what they can do as opposed to pre-pandemic … then having some positive cases (and) the coach being away for this game.

“It has been really tough for them (and) we are just really thankful that they are out here as part of the series.

Australian batsmen Marnus Labuschagne, right, Steve Smith, left, and David Warner in the SCG nets on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

“In terms of the cricket side of things, I couldn’t be happier with how it is going for us. We’ve been on the other side if it before. It’s not going to be like this forever so we will enjoy it while we can.”

Sydney is holding its nerve and will be at full capacity despite recording the highest case numbers on Tuesday. Last year, the venue operated at just 25 per cent of capacity.

In 2021, day three, traditionally the pink day to raise money for the McGrath Foundation, successfully sold virtual seats to fans who could not attend and will do the same at this match.

Glenn McGrath, who set up the organisation in honour of his wife Jane who died from breast cancer, is himself a victim of the virus and will not be able to attend the early stages of the Test.

The weather is set to turn, however, with rain predicted for the first three days of the match.