‘A gold medal’: Cummins compares Test Championship victory to Olympics

Australia’s World Test Championship victory is like winning Olympic gold or a major football competition, according to elated captain Pat Cummins.

“Olympics have come down to one race to win a gold medal [and the] AFL, NRL seasons have finals,” Cummins said after Australia beat India by 209 runs at the Oval on Sunday.

Australia after winning the World Test Championship.Credit: Getty Images

He was unable to say how claiming the title felt compared to winning a 50-over or Twenty20 World Cup, a trifecta Cummins and many of his teammates have now achieved.

“It’s a hard one,” Cummins said. “They all feel a little bit different. We were just talking about that. No doubt Test matches for us are our favourite format. It’s the biggest challenge, I think, in every way.

“This competition pitting up against everyone in the world – it’s got to be right up there. I don’t know. It’s probably like trying to pick your favourite kids, but it’s satisfying.”

The Australians made the final after losing just three of 20 Tests across the two-year World Test Championship cycle and, most importantly, winning three Tests on the subcontinent by beating Pakistan 1-0 in a three-match series, drawing 1-1 in Sri Lanka and losing 2-1 in India.

While the first Ashes Test begins at Edgbaston on Friday, Cummins said the Australians would make sure they celebrated their latest achievement.

“I think we’ll sit around in the changing rooms for a while, and then we’ll find a nice sunny English beer garden somewhere probably this afternoon to sit back and celebrate,” he said.

“It’s been an amazing two years. We’ve had this final in the diary for a while. It’s been something that we’ve been building up for, so it’s something we’re going to savour. I know we’ve got a big series, but we can worry about that in a couple of days’ time.

“You only get a few of these moments in your career where you can sit back [and] acknowledge a pretty special achievement and that’s one of these times.”

It was just the second World Championship final played and the first contested by Australia, but India have now played in and lost both.

While Travis Head was rightly named player of the match with his game-changing 163, the major talking point was the strong performance of Scott Boland, who was only playing because of the injury history surrounding Josh Hazlewood.

Boland claimed two wickets in three balls, including the prize scalp of Virat Kolhi (49) to break India’s resistance, finishing with 3-46 and five wickets for the match, while conceding fewer than three runs an over.

Elation for Nathan Lyon and the Australians after the dismissal of Mohammed Siraj.Credit: Getty Images

“I feel like we’re starting to become too used to Scotty Boland just doing that,” Cummins said.

“He just keeps finding another level, doesn’t he? He’s unbelievable. He was just our best bowler all game, held it together, didn’t go for many runs, always looked threatening.

“To get two wickets in a row was just reward for how well he bowled throughout the whole game.”

Cummins played down his decision to open the bowling with Boland ahead of Starc in India’s second innings and again at the start of play on Sunday.

“I don’t think I’d look too much into that,” Cummins said, pointing out a theory from county cricket that the Dukes ball tends to swing more once the lacquer has worn off after 10 overs.

“We chop and change the opening bowlers depending on gut feel. The ball moves a little bit differently to, say, a Kookaburra. It might swing a bit more after a few overs rather than the first couple. In terms of Scotty, I’m sure he’ll play a huge role in the Ashes, but we’ll see how it plays out.”

Cummins defended Starc’s performance. He claimed four wickets for the match and bowled some awkward deliveries, but conceded more than five runs an over.

“He did a role for us and we know what Starcy can do after 80 Test matches,” Cummins said.

“I think I was probably the biggest culprit at times, being a little bit sloppy, not quite as slick as we normally are, but I thought today everyone brought it together and everyone is in a really good place.”

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