It took less than an hour into the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston before a conga line of past Australian players started to slam Pat Cummins for his defensive tactics.
It was as if Cummins had run off the field, screeching “Bazball is a nasty bully, so I’m taking my bat and ball and buggering off home to watch The Bachelor.”
Given Cummins had only been exposed to England’s new blitzkrieg batting style for around 60 minutes the criticism seemed bizarre and baffling.
And the vitriol aimed at him didn’t abate until he steered Australia to a stunning win that was almost Ben Stokes-like in its delivery. It’s not hysterical hyperbole to suggest it was one of the greatest performances by an Ashes captain.
Below the barrage of barbs directed towards Cummins in the first Test was a subtext that had been plaguing the New South Welshman since he took over the reins in 2021: fast bowlers make crap leaders.
None of the former Australian greats perched in the commentary boxes or on Twitter were actually saying that but it was easy to read between the lines.
Before Cummins became Australia’s 47th captain, no quick had been skipper in 144-odd years of Test cricket.
Calm down you cricket nuffies because I know former tearaway Ray Lindwall was captain for one Test against India back in 1956.
(And one could argue that Cummins wasn’t exactly the first choice but the team was light on candidates given Steve Smith and David Warner were both banned from captaining Australia after the sandpaper scandal in South Africa).
Yet, despite Cummins having an impressive record since becoming captain there has always been a lingering disbelief about his leadership.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
For some inexplicable reason, the 30-year-old seems to be marked harsher. Cummins was crucified for his brain fade when he was bowled for a golden duck in the second innings of the Delhi Test against India when the tourists lost 8/28.
“That’s just a horrible shot from the captain,” Aussie great Michael Hussey said at the time. Hard to disagree with Mr Cricket.
But why does Cummins come under such intense scrutiny?
Even before the Ashes, several pundits were questioning whether his captaincy would stand up against Bazball. And it might have something to do with the fact the cricketing establishment has always had a tumultuous and peculiar relationship with fast bowlers.
Australian cricket has tended to view quicks as unsophisticated, fiery boofheads who were deemed deficiently uneducated to ever captain a team.
The conservative cricketing establishment has always seen batsmen as the intellectual, sophisticated types ready to dine with English Royalty at the drop of a hat.
The legendary Don Bradman once said that fast bowlers “should never be captains – they either under-bowl or over-bowl themselves.”
Some of the country’s most feared pacemen like Dennis Lillee, Glen McGrath and Mitchell Johnson executed the art of fast bowling with grace, tenacity and the skill of an ancient artisan but Australian cricket was never going to allow these uncouth buffoons to lead the players onto the field.
A pertinent and obvious question is, why?
There have been some acceptable and unacceptable rationales behind the fast bowling snub.
The quicks are usually buggered after unnaturally hurling their bodies at the crease for hours so they tended to cool off down at fine leg away from the action. And those pesky, pugnacious pacemen are always breaking down.
Batsmen get a decent view of the game sitting in slip all day so they tended to develop a more astute tactical acumen.
A more insidious explanation is that historically cricket has been about class. Australian cricket might appear to have an egalitarian swagger but a deep, class divide has always existed.
Bowlers were looked upon as the working class who toiled away in the dusty mines all day while the batsmen dined out on and G&Ts and Wagyu Beef.
But there has always been something different about the bookish-looking Cummins. His father was an accountant, his mother a schoolteacher and the young Cummins went to grammar school in nearby Cranebrook, before heading off to the University of Technology, Sydney.
Pat Cummins celebrates taking the wicket of Joe Root. (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)
He’s articulate, charming, and has the character of someone who would bring a stray dog home and keep it.
And after the malarkey involving the Johnny Bairstow dismissal in the second Test, he swatted away journalists’ grilling with all the alacrity and biting wit of Oscar Wilde.
Many past players have crumbled under the pressure of the captaincy but Cummins’ form has been exemplary since taking over the top job.
He has taken 71 wickets around 22.4 and has a staggering strike rate of a wicket every 47 balls. Those figures are just a tick above his bowling average of 21.6 and a strike rate of 46 before he became skipper.
Former Australian captain Ian Chappell was full of praise for the way Cummins paced his innings in Edgbaston and was bemused by the ongoing criticism aimed at him.
“Anybody who queried how good Cummins would be as a captain because he was a pace bowler obviously hadn’t studied his Test career very well,” he told Wide World of Sports.
“I think where he’s smart is he’s shown he’ll attack when he thinks it’s right, and he obviously thought it was right in that last partnership and it turned out to be the winning move.”
At the halfway point of the Ashes, Cummins is probably just ahead of Stokes as the player of the series.
He is on the brink of becoming the first captain to win a series in England since 2001. He’s still learning the trade and is bound to make the odd poor judgement but given he could play for another four-to-five years, Cummins has the potential to be one of Australia’s greatest-ever captains.
And he could finally put to bed that tiresome, boring argument that fast bowlers make crap captains.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
You’re right about the off the field stuff and general leadership being as important as tactics, though if he’s a good leader and McDonald is a good coach he should learn to draw on others more. Disagree that % wins proves much more than the quality of the team - 4 bowlers with 200 wickets! He’s also played a higher percentage of games at home than most in an era of few draws. Nobody is going to tell me that he’s a better captain all round than Taylor or Border. But I still think he’s done a great job.
Opeo
Roar Rookie
"winning an ODI... series in India" McDonald was actually in charge for the ODI series win in India too. He may have been in charge for the T20s too but I am not certain.
Simoc
Roar Rookie
I'm proud of this Australian team under Pat Cummins. He is articulate and smart and we aren't getting the seedy behaviour so prevalent in the past twenty years despite the likes of Warner still being there. He will only get better with experience of course. Here we see the same critics for not bowling Murphy, Green as those who would criticise him for bowling them when they're not doing the job. If you were watching you'de know why they weren't getting a bowl. Murphy has a way to go with flight and is obviously being targeted because of that. Who-ever said he was better than Ali can't see what they're watching. Ali has a lot of experience at test level and flights the ball nicely. But back to Cummins. If he wins the Ashes series in England this team will become an all-time great team if they aren't already. And Cummins is a great bowler now and when his onfield captaincy gets to the same level, we'll be on a roll. And he's not doing so badly now with Australia being WTC champions for the first time ever.
Opeo
Roar Rookie
After Warner and Smith returned there was the Ashes in England and then four consecutive home series. I forgot about Smith captaining in India. Beating India at a neutral venue is still better than losing to them by eight wickets at the MCG.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Fair enough
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Langer's tenure was over before Pat even became captain. He was a dead man walking after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy loss in 2021, when reports of dressing room disenchantment first came into the open. Langer did a good job to steady the ship post-Cape Town, but he was too intense to allow this team to reach its potential. They should have won the Ashes series in 2019, that England team was awful. Likewise, a failure to freshen up our attack in 2020/21 saw us cough up the BGT. His biggest success - winning the World T20 - came after it's widely acknowledged he stepped back and let McDonald and the assistants run the show. He had some other good achievements too (such as winning an ODI and T20I series in India, beating a strong NZ team 3-0 at home and winning the Ashes 4-0 at home), but the team needed a new coach by the time his term expired. McDonald's tenure has seen some very good achievements: winning in Pakistan (Langer never won a series overseas), winning the WTC final, winning an ODI series in India. The first two BGT tests in India were disappointing and a missed opportunity, as was the World T20 at home. But overall, results under his tenure have been better than Langer's so far. On balance, the right decision was made to move Langer on.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
The things a person learns on a sporting website. I haven't heard of Bromelain, so thanks for mentioning this. I love pineapple so eating it cooked or uncooked is no hardship.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I don’t eat much meat much but if l do it’s 1) lamb shanks, 2) lamb cutlets & l barbie rib eye with pineapple. Bromelain breaks down protein for better digestion.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
It's certainly the bit you want to get right, given it's the bit most in the view of the media and public. Not sure I've ever had a rib eye on the barbie. More of a T-bone man myself! :happy:
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Flat tracks for the first two tests. Had they been traditional pitches Bolo would've got wickets. I'm not Crusoe in thinking that! All the bowlers have been handled poorly by Cummins at various stages in the 3 tests so far. ------- Cummins is the best bowler in the side l agree so no issue there. Where have l said he's a poor bowler? Ans: nowhere. ------- Head has captained well in the SS but we all know SA has been poor in producing players. Note all the cast offs we've had from other states. If you are a maths or stats student you'll know SA is only 7% of the population. Imagine how good Head would be with the cattle in the test side??? -------- Nowhere have l promoted UK as captain and I'm against Smith captaining the side again. I only just restated that fact this morning somewhere on these pages.
3 R M
Roar Rookie
Well you’ve made that plain for the last 2 years its lucky your not selecting the side or the captain. How’s boland going over in England? That must be getting under your skin as well. But there is no pile on from you there Rowdy because you luv your Bolo even when he doesn’t take wickets and goes the journey. You can see why he is hesitant to bowl Bolo and Green as they are getting carted in matches that are going down to the wire. I do think that he over bowls himself when no one looks likely and have stated this, when he does his pace drops and it becomes counter productive, but he is the best bowler in the side. Smithy doesn’t want the captaincy. Uzzie is on his last stand or do we go with one of the south Australians who have led their shield team to the bottom of the shield table for years? If he comes home with the ashes you better get used to him.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I think Smith has learnt a lot. He’s a bit of a sage now for the team. But the past is s different country and to go to Smith would be like going back to an old lover. I think things need to come to a Head.
Shire
Roar Rookie
Lost both in India, won one at a neutral venue*
Wes P
Roar Rookie
Your comment is best IMO. He's been good but not great. His handling of Murphy, that you and others mentioned, is a case in point. That said his own performance has been nearly impeccable. As your stats indicate. I imagine he'd need the experience of Smith to assist. And it seems like he has. Perhaps some hack journalist should ask Smith regarding the value of Murphy.
Shire
Roar Rookie
The side under Paine, once Smith and Warner returned, recorded 8 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses. This side did not "perform better away against India" under Cummins' captaincy. It lost both Tests and drew one at a neutral venue. The team performed better under SMITH as stand-in captain, bring his total record in India to 2-2-2. Cummins has been fortunate enough to captain a very strong side, just as Paine was once he had Smith back in the side and Labuschagne had ascended to our permanent #3. Cummins is arguably in an even better position due to Khawaja's best ever form, Head solidifying himself in the middle order and the emergence of Cameron Green. None of this has anything to do with anyone's captaincy, as far as I can tell.
Shire
Roar Rookie
He seemed to lean a lot more on Smith, early on. He openly stated that he was underbowling himself at one point in his first Test, and that Smith was the one to suggest he be brought on for the bowling change. I wonder if Smith has retreated from his VC duties a bit, feeling that Cummins is more comfortable in his role, or if Cummins feels that he no longer needs him thanks to being more experienced. Smith did very well as captain in India.
Toss of the coin
Roar Rookie
Played an "active role" in Langer's demise. Successful coach who may have a tough taskmaster however his replacement, Ronald seems to be a quiet passive character. In my working years, I didn't always "like" my managers however respected the position they held. Too many sportspeople seemingly have the power to "hire & fire" particularly as it's easier & cheaper to sack a coach. Thoughts.
Barb Dwyer
Roar Rookie
I believe you Rowdy. But it's a motivation for lots of others.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I think he handles the off-field stuff very well and he's an affable bloke. He just goes missing when we field and that's not the only responsibility but it is, by far, the most important.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I don't care if he's woke or drives 6.2lt Ram V8 just to upset Greta. Irrelevant to me.