Pat Cummins in defining captaincy moment amid Ashes scare

Pat Cummins has come under plenty of scrutiny for his passive tactics as captain so far in his tenure, but one defining moment out in the Lord's cauldron could cement his legacy in this series. Australia were in a strong position heading into lunch on day 5 at Lord's with England six down after Jonny Bairstow was controversially dismissed.

The home crowd was fuming over the dismissal with the Aussie players booed and jeered, which even prompted an ugly confrontation between Usman Khawaja and a fan in the Long Room. Australia returned to the field, but England captain Ben Stokes took it to the Aussies.

BAFFLING: Stokes in staggering Bazball call after England's Ashes agony

NO WAY: Brendon McCullum slaps down 'beer' with the Aussies over drama

Bouncer after bouncer saw Stokes send Josh Hazlewood and Cameron Green over the rope. Steve Smith dropped a normally routine catch to remove Stokes and Mitchell Starc also dropped another tough chance on the boundary.

All of a sudden, centurion Stokes had wrestled England back into a winning position. The 371-run chase had now looked achievable for the first time as England surpassed 300 with four wickets in hand.

Former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting was in commentary imploring Cummins to make a change as England was finding easy singles. Another former captain Mark Taylor was calling for more pressure on Stokes. At one stage, Australia was so committed to the bouncer and getting Broad on strike that every single fielder was on the boundary for Stokes.

The match was slipping away and as Ponting suggested Cummins needed to regroup. In a big move, the captain called a quick meeting with the leaders including Steve Smith, Marnus Labuscghagne and Usman Khawaja. Slowing down the game just for a moment, the move proved masterful with Cummins coming on to bowl and halting the run rate. Adjusting their bouncer tactics, Hazlewood regathered his compusure and took the crucial wicket of Stokes.

Australia learned from their 2019 Headingley disaster - which saw Stokes score the winning runs after another remarkable knock - to not lose themselves amid the chaos. And in a cauldron of boos, chants of 'cheats' and the chance of history repeating itself, Cummins remained calm.

There was still plenty of backlash to Cummins' field settings and tactics, but many also noticed a matured leader taking control of the anarchy out in the centre of Lord's.

Pat Cmmins fires back at Spirit of Cricket criticism

As captain, Cummins was at the centre of the Bairstow dismissal, which saw England claim Australia had crossed the line to take his wicket. Stokes was critical after the loss and said he would have withdrawn his appeal if he was in Australia's position.

When this was put to Cummins on BBC Sport, the Aussie captain didn't entertain the idea after a brutal slap down of the English backlash. "OK," he said. In a separate interview after match, Cummins said the dismissal was legitimate.

"I think Carey saw it happen a few balls previously. There was no pause. Catch it and throw it at the stumps. I thought it was totally fair play," Cummins said.

"That's how the rule is. Some people might disagree, just like the catch yesterday, the rule is there."

Regardless of what you think of Cummins' captaincy, the classy Australian has led his team to a Test Championship Final win over India and is one win away of becoming the first captain to win a series on English soil since 2005.

Sign up to our newsletter and score the biggest sport stories of the week.