On the first morning of the Perth Test against Pakistan, Australia captain Pat Cummins had won the toss and elected to bat, so members of the home squad had spare minutes up their sleeve to get the obligatory team photograph. The skipper loitered, waiting for his teammates to find their most photogenic order, before he took the chair front and centre reserved for the main man.
He looked calm, unfussed, bored even – there were no signs of series-opening stress or leadership burnout, despite commencing the home international season coming off an extraordinarily busy and an extraordinarily successful year.
The biggest short-term issue on his mind may have been a local plinth shortage, so cluttered was the foreground with silver and crystal. Before him sat the World Test Championship trophy, the ODI World Cup and the modern glassware version of the Ashes (England retain the original having claimed a moral victory) – all won under his captaincy.
Could we have confused his unfussed demeanour for smug contentedness, or just a simple inner peace?
I’m plumping for the latter, given the complete absence of hubris that has characterised his leadership. Win, lose or draw he has presented a smiling face, an appreciation of his opponents and an understanding of the position his sport takes in the wider community.
That doesn’t mean he plays a diluted competitive style because the scowl and growl are stowed. He bowls fast, appeals loudly, competes at every instance and encourages his players to do likewise: Bradman’s quote about “modesty and competitiveness being completely compatible” comes to mind.
Pat Cummins relaxes with the Ashes after a stirring series in England.Credit: Getty
Cummins handles DRS referrals with the same expression that he decides on his sock colour of the day, and he never argues with umpires. Much of this behaviour would normally make him ineligible for the fast bowlers’ union.
His handling of the Bairstow imbroglio at Lord’s was both understated and direct: he supported his team and kept his players focused on the details of the match as irrationality reigned at the home of cricket. He cleverly dealt with the media by restating the facts and not letting emotion sway the dialogue. He redirects banal press questions with a smile, never raising his voice or showing an inkling of irritation. The last Australia captain with such a command of the press may have been Richie Benaud.
Cummins understands that his team will have different personalities and that cricket and life are more enjoyable and productive when adorned with difference, rather than stifled by uniformity.
His on-field tactics during the successful retention of the Ashes certainly provoked heated conversations, though. The plan to dismiss Ben Stokes was a stinker, and good captains and coaches generally have plans B, C and D when class players are in the zone.
Australia celebrate a remarkable victory over India in the World Cup final in November.Credit: Getty
Australia did not appear to have alternatives, or at least were reticent to use them, and even if the coaching staff were directing the plans, the buck certainly stops with the skipper. Adaptable and flexible are two key measures when dealing with human beings and there wasn’t a lot of either as Stokes peppered the crowd in the Western Stand.
Learning from losses is always easier; it means you have to change things to get better. Winners can be content with what they are doing, and that may mean an evolving opposition can overtake you. Fortunately, in the Ashes, England’s hubris served them poorly.
A fast bowling captain in a Test has real-time challenges: vital, physically challenging spells built around the mental tasks of organisation and decision-making, although 50-over cricket can provide shorter term exasperation.
One-dayers bring constant bowling and field changes; bowlers are under the pump from swinging batsmen, climbing run rates and short boundaries. The game can move very quickly and the captain needs to be somewhere near the curve, if not ahead of it.
Pat Cummins (inset with Alex Carey) handled the fallout from the Jonny Bairstow incident at Lord’s with aplomb.Credit: Nine, Getty
Australia began the 50-over World Cup campaign lethargic and weary, perhaps a result of their protracted lead-up matches; mental tiredness as much as physical wear were to blame. Cummins did not play the South Africa series, preferring to freshen up for the World Cup long haul. The bowling captain would need to be the sharpest of his team for an 11-game tournament.
Australia lost 3-2 in South Africa, after winning the opening couple. The form line was unimpressive, but the squad also under strength. Although he didn’t play, Cummins did attend the games, in order to watch, strategise and learn, perhaps in a similar fashion as when recovering three times from back-stress fractures. Six years between Test matches gave him plenty of opportunity to give the game away, and that would have been fine as he worked through a business degree and prepared for a life that didn’t include fast bowling.
Study comes in many forms. The homework in South Africa paid off handsomely as his handling of the World Cup semi and final was creative, flexible, adaptable, near flawless and, ultimately, victorious.
Cummins sees the game with a bowler’s eye and from the physical standpoint at mid-on or mid-off. His position makes communication with the bowlers much more direct and so different from the batting captain who directs traffic from the distant slips cordon.
Pat Cummins with the spoils of World Cup victory in Ahmedabad.Credit: AP
If captains don’t get better with time then their time at the top is brief. Australia’s last half-dozen or so all improved as their tenure lengthened; some improved quicker than others. Cummins looks to be a quick study indeed. He learns, evolves and has the emotional quotient to improve with every outing – in yesteryear this was referred to as an “even temperament”.
The naysayers – and there were plenty who objected to his appointment – had their platform based almost solely on his cricket skill as a fast bowler, which was less than rational reasoning. They either excluded or were unaware of the place of education, experience and adaptation as formative qualities.
For Pat Cummins, there are no “I told you sos”, no excuses, no gestures to press boxes, just an unrelenting energy to be better than yesterday.
As the photographer set about his work in Perth, the captain settled centre stage and beamed that ever-present soothing smile. I reckon he may have been thinking they might need a few more podiums for the next shot.
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