Pat Cummins captaincy feats this Ashes have been a match for Ben Stokes heroic deeds
Ben Stokes’ iconic acts of cricket heroism are well known, but as Aussie skipper, Pat Cummins feats of courage and endurance have been just as impressive, writes SIMON WILDE.
Every team that come up against England under Ben Stokes have had their challenges dealing with the radical way their opponents play. How do you set fields to batsmen when they flick the switch and go to all-out attack? While his every move has not been faultless, it is fair to say that Pat Cummins has fared better than any captain so far.
When England scored 393 for eight on the first day of this series, Cummins was criticised for his defensive fields. He preferred to cut off boundaries and his approach did not meet with the approval of some of his predecessors. He was also content for his batsmen to play with grinding orthodoxy rather than try to match England’s fire with fire of their own.
After the first Test, Brendon McCullum told his England players that they were the moral victors and Ollie Robinson wrote in a column that they were surprised how defensive Australia had been and “how unwilling they were to go toe-to-toe with us”. He added: “I think if they’re honest, Australia will look at themselves and realise they need to change their approach to keep up with how we’re going to play.”
Cummins did no such thing but as the series has unfolded he has shown a tactical flexibility and courage that might not be as eye-catching as what Stokes has done strategically but is impressive nonetheless.
The shift to the short-ball ploy at Lord’s unpicked England’s first innings and secured Australia a lead of 91. He could have responded more rapidly to Stokes attacking the short boundary down the hill on the last day of that game, but in the end he did cut off this area and force Stokes to aim to the other side of the ground – a move that cost him his wicket, and England the game.
With Stokes once more on the rampage here on the second day at Headingley, Cummins held his nerve with his young spinner Todd Murphy and kept him bowling in the belief that even though Stokes was repeatedly clearing the rope he would err in the end, as happened. Cummins might also have calculated that he would need Murphy’s bowling in the fourth innings and it was important to show him faith.
Stokes is putting in giant efforts simply to keep his body functioning, but so too is Cummins, who has played in every match of the series to date as well as the World Test Championship final against India that preceded it. He has got through 124.4 Test match overs in the space of 30 days and there has been no apparent diminution in effort.
The results have been outstanding, with four wickets in the match against India and 14 in the Ashes Tests, placing him joint top of the wicket-taking list in the series alongside Stuart Broad. He also contributed vital runs in both innings at Edgbaston; without his unbeaten 44 on the final evening Australia would surely have lost.
His performances with the ball in the past week have been particularly significant and it is no coincidence that as the series reached its pivotal phase both captains raised their games to fresh heights.
Cummins punched what ultimately proved a fatal hole in England’s second innings at Lord’s when he produced a superb pair of deliveries to remove Joe Root and Harry Brook in quick succession on the Saturday evening. Root was rattled by a bouncer and then caught at slip off a brutish ball that climbed; Brook was bowled off stump by a delivery angled in before seaming up the slope. Both were high-class pieces of bowling.
The decisive event on day two at Headingley was arguably the second ball, bowled by Cummins to Root, which again climbed and gave the batsman little chance of control; again held at first slip. It was the tenth time Cummins had taken Root’s wicket in Tests, an unmatched record.
Here, Cummins had already done a huge amount to kill the England innings in its infancy by extracting Ben Duckett and Brook on Thursday. No one on either side has been a greater threat with the new ball.
What is more, Cummins has brought his ‘A game’ to Leeds despite all the fuss surrounding his decision to endorse the controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s.
He said at the time that he was comfortable with what he did and has stuck to that view, but it would have been easy to be distracted by the fuss the incident generated, especially as those in the England camp were so direct in their criticism. Stokes said he would not have wanted to win a game in that manner and McCullum suggested that with time Cummins would regret his actions. The Australian captain has taken the brouhaha in his stride.
Whenever he returns to Headingley, Stokes is asked about what happened here in 2019 and whether he might be able to summon a similar miracle. But Cummins was also a part of that story and bowled the final ball which Stokes lashed to the boundary. Asked earlier this week about that moment, he said he had seen it “1,000 times”.
Come the fourth innings, Australia will be looking for another big effort from their captain, and he will be looking for a different ending – indeed, one that would seal for him a second Ashes series win as leader.
Going into bat for a fading jewel
“The breeding ground for future champions.” Growing up in India, I learned to revere the Sheffield Shield.
’I’ll be half a chance’: Harris puts hand up for Aussie selection
Australian selectors will provide an early steer on potential replacements for Cameron Green when they unveil an Australia A squad, with a former Test opener appearing to be a good chance for selection.