Pat Cummins enjoys perfect 1st day as Australia's Test captain at the Ashes
On his first day of actual play as Australia's Test captain, Pat Cummins could not have asked for things to go better. He lost the toss, but everything else went the pacer's way from there on. Australia bowled England out for a paltry 147 to get Cummins' first Ashes series underway in the best way possible.
After the 2-2 draw in England in 2019, there was again a lot of build-up to this year's Ashes Down Under.
As the day finally came, England skipper Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat. But winning the toss was the only bit of luck the visitors were to have on the day.
Mitchell Starc got the first delivery of the match to swing in viciously and bowled Rory Burns around the legs to give Australia and Cummins the perfect start.
The dismissal set the tone for what was to come as England's batting lineup crumbled in Brisbane.
Josh Hazlewood sent Dawid Malan and Root packing off consecutive overs before Cummins got his first wicket as captain when he dismissed Ben Stokes.
The new Australian Test captain went on to claim a five-wicket haul, his first against England, as the visitors were bowled out at the stroke of Tea.
There was no further play on the day as rain played spoilsport, but Australia have already surpassed England's total on the second day.
Pat Cummins makes Ashes history on captaincy debut
Pat Cummins became the first captain to take a five-wicket haul in the Ashes since the late England pacer Bob Willis in 1982.
Cummins registered figures of 5/38 in his first innings with the ball as Test captain.
What a dream start this is for Pat Cummins as the captain of the Australian Men's Test team 🙌
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But it wasn't just with the ball that the he impressed.
There were plenty of questions about having a fast bowler as captain after Cummins' appointment. Will he overbowl himself? Will he underbowl himself?
However, Australia's bowling changes were a sign of good tactical acumen from the pacer as well as his ability to balance his workload with the rest of the bowlers.
Cummins bowled 13.1 overs, compared to Hazlewood's 13 and Starc's 12.
Nathan Lyon bowled nine overs, while Cameron Green was given three overs in which he bagged his maiden Test wicket.
One thing that stood out was how Cummins used Starc. The left-arm pacer's selection was questioned by many, including legendary spinner Shane Warne. But Starc justified his selection with the blistering start he gave Australia with Burns' wicket and then got rid of the dangerous Jos Buttler.
The England wicketkeeper came out and started to counter-attack brilliantly until Starc came in and got him to edge one behind, breaking up a key partnership between Buttler and Ollie Pope.
What was interesting was that Cummins used Starc in short bursts between his and Hazlewood's spells.
He then immediately took Cameron Green off the attack after he dismissed Pope, exposing England's tail in the process.
Brett Lee is all praises for Australia's new Test Captain, Pat Cummins 🇦🇺
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Cummins immediately brought Hazlewood back into the attack, not letting the lower order batters get any momentum.
But it was Cummins himself who ended up cleaning up the tail, snagging the wickets of Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes to complete his five-for.
Australian pace bowling legend Brett Lee was all praise for Cummins' captaincy as he lauded the move to take Green off the attack. Lee was quoted as saying by Fox Sports:
“He had a stroke of genius when he gets Green on, gets the breakthrough of the biggest partnership in the game and then takes him straight off because he brings on Josh Hazlewood because he can bowl at the tail. So that’s a captain that — if you’re watching, you wouldn’t think it’s his first game as captain. He looks as though he’s been around for a long time.”
It's about as early as the early days get when it comes to judging what kind of a captain he will be. But the signs are as good as they get and Australia will feel they are in good, capable and wicket-taking hands for the near future.