Pat Cummins hits back at Aussie legends after Ashes tactics savaged

Pat Cummins has fired back at some of the criticism of his captaincy after rain saw the fourth Ashes Test end in a draw that sees the Aussies retain the urn. Australia heads into the final Test at The Oval starting on Thursday with an insurmountable 2-1 lead, as they look to become the first Aussie side since 2001 to win an Ashes series in England.

The Aussies move onto The Oval with plenty of questions to answer after being thoroughly outplayed at Old Trafford, with only rain saving them from a defeat that would have tied the series up at 2-2. Cummins in particular copped a barrage of criticism for his captaincy, with Aussie greats Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh and Mark Taylor among those to scrutinise his tactics.

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Ponting questioned Cummins for not taking the new ball at Old Trafford, while Waugh was left baffled by some of the skipper's questionable field placements. Taylor, like many other critics, couldn't understand why Cummins' men persisted with their short-ball tactics after being punished by England's batters, with Victorian cricket great Darren Berry even going as far as predicting Cummins would "resign" as captain after the series.

Australia's Test captains have typically been batters, with Cummins' appointment in 2021 marking the first time in 65 years a fast bowler held the position. During the fourth Test, where Cummins suffered career-worst bowling figures, many questioned whether the burden of bowling and captaining was too much.

Cummins' return of 1-129 at 5.6 an over marked the most expensive innings of his Test career, as both Zak Crawley (189 off 182 balls) and Jonny Bairstow (99 not out) going after him to brutal effect. As well as persisting with an ineffective short-ball approach, Cummins was also accused of being rattled by England's all-out attack when he dropped a regulation catch.

Pat Cummins denies captaincy is too big a burden

However, the skipper is adamant the captaincy did not affect his bowling during England's most destructive innings in Ashes history, where they plundered 592 runs in 107.4 overs. "I don't think (that was an issue)," Cummins said in response to a question about the burden of captaincy on his bowling.

"It was just execution, I let through more boundaries than I normally do. Probably just one or two bad balls an over. I don't know (why) really. Rhythm felt pretty good, I felt like I was pretty clear in my own mind with plans, so I don't know."

England will hope to carry the momentum from Old Trafford into The Oval on Thursday, where they will try to stop Australia claiming a Test series win in the country for the first time in 22 years. Cummins admits the middle session on day two was unacceptable from the Aussies as England scored at 7.12 an over, but says there's no need to panic.

"It certainly felt like they were in control at some stages. I wouldn't say that's overly uncommon, no matter who the opponent is," Cummins added. "It's about trying to make those moments as short as possible and wrestle back some kind of control.

"We tried to throw a few different plans at them and maybe on another day they work – a couple of the edges carry through or some of the catches go to hand. You definitely look at what you can try and do differently for next time. That will be part of this week for sure. I think there are some obvious things we could do a little bit differently. Maybe some plans, the way we executed our bowling."

with AAP

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