Australia wrapped up the Ashes in little more than a fortnight of cricket, yet their skipper Pat Cummins is already hinting he will watch the Boxing Day Test from the players’ balcony rather than the middle.
The fast bowler returned from a five-and-a-half-month lay-off to take six wickets in Adelaide, sealing what he called a “pretty amazing” series victory. The 32-year-old bowled without obvious discomfort, but back-to-back Tests were never part of the original plan.
“I’m feeling really good, [but] as for the rest of the series we’ll wait and see,” he said. “We had a pretty aggressive build-up knowing that it’s the Ashes there to be won and we thought that was worth it. Now that the series has been won, there might be a sense of job’s done and let’s reassess the risk.
“We’ll work it out over the next couple of days, I doubt I’ll be playing Melbourne, and then we’ll have a chat about Sydney. But certainly before the series it was, while the series was live, let’s take on the risk and have a crack at it, now it’s done, I think we’ll need to have a chat about it.”
In other words, the urn is safe, and so is his back if the medical staff have their say.
First-innings runs, plus a disciplined quartet of seam bowlers, left England chasing 468 on the final day. Jamie Smith and Will Jacks flirted with a minor miracle but never truly threatened parity. Mitchell Starc removed Jacks thanks to a sharp chance at first slip from Marnus Labuschagne, and Scott Boland tidied up the tail.
Nathan Lyon’s series-ending hamstring injury appeared the only sour note, yet Cummins treated that, too, as an occupational hazard. “I think that’s one of the things I’m most proud about in this group,” he said. “Nothing ever really happens perfectly, there’s always something that gets thrown up.”
The captain pointed to recent history—players in and out, roles shuffled, results largely unchanged. “Over the last few years, this groups have shown [it can] just crack on. Even I missed the first couple of games, Steve stepped right in and it was smooth and seamless.”
He reserved praise for the fielders and wicketkeeper Alex Carey, whose tidy glovework underlined Australia’s edge in the basics. “I think that’s when we’re at our best, this cricket team,” Cummins noted. “You can’t really rush things here in Australia… It got a little bit closer than I would have liked, but I’m pretty happy.”
Batting consultant Michael Di Venuto, speaking informally in the pavilion afterwards, felt much the same. “Pat’s spell on the third evening set the tone,” he said, adding that the group’s ability to “absorb pressure, then punch back” defined the series.
From England’s point of view, there were flickers. Smith, playing only his second Test, looked unflustered by pace; Jacks counter-punched with typical freedom. Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick saw positives. “We stayed in the fight most sessions,” he said, before conceding Australia’s catching “probably cost us a hundred-odd runs across the match.”
The next question is selection for Melbourne. Boland, a hometown specialist, is poised to play regardless of Cummins’ fitness. Lance Morris is fit and offers pace, while Todd Murphy would replace Lyon if Australia feel a specialist spinner is still required at the MCG.
Cummins does not rule himself out completely but is pragmatic. “The last two months have been a bit of a grind. [I gave] myself every chance, but it’s all worth it when you get days like this, packed crow—” The sentence trailed off as a teammate sprayed him with celebratory drink, a timely reminder that even measured champions enjoy the odd messy moment.
