"Any suggestion that Pat Cummins should resign is rubbish" - Mark Taylor defends Australian skipper amidst criticism ahead of the final Ashes Test
Former Australian captain Mark Taylor came to the defense of current skipper Pat Cummins after the side endured a tough outing in the fourth Ashes Test at Manchester. Taylor isn't immune to captaincy, having led Australia to three Ashes victories in 1995, 1997, and 1999, including one in England.
The Aussies were dominated throughout the fourth Test, with England capturing a 275-run lead on the back of a spectacular batting display. They scored 592 runs, the highest score in the series by either team, at a remarkable run rate of 5.50 runs per over.
Although the visitors escaped with a draw, thanks to only 30 overs of play over the final two days, Cummins' captaincy came under heavy criticism after the Manchester contest.
However, in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald, Taylor defended Cummins by saying:
"Any suggestion that Pat Cummins should resign or stand down after a tough few days in Manchester is rubbish, particularly given how well the team has played under him during the past couple of years.It’s worth remembering that less than two months ago Australia easily beat India in the World Test Championship final at the Oval to claim the title as the best Test team in the world. And they still lead the Ashes 2-1 with a Test to play."
The former Australian skipper added that England's Bazball approach makes it particularly hard to captain against, especially when you are also the team's premier bowler.
"Manchester probably produced Cummins’ hardest three days as a captain before the rain came to dig Australia out of a massive hole. It is hard to be the strike bowler and to get everything else right, particularly when you’ve got someone like Ben Stokes with the Bazball approach and the batsmen are after you," added Taylor.
Cummins has been highly successful as captain, leading Australia to the top of the points table for the 2021-23 World Test Championship Cycle (WTC).
He also skippered the side to a dominant victory and the WTC title in the summit clash against India last month.
"Would someone else have done a better job?" - Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor questioned if anyone other than Pat Cummins could have done something substantially different as captain. The former opening batter felt that similar tactics may have still been employed even if it could have relieved Cummins to focus more on his bowling.
The pace spearhead endured a dismal outing in the fourth Test, with figures of 1/129 in his 23 overs.
"But the big question is: would someone else have done a better job? That’s the unanswerable question. Maybe if it was Usman Khawaja as captain, he might have set exactly the same field. And the result might have been very similar, but at least then Cummins wouldn’t have had the worry about his bowling and the captaincy. That’s the hard bit," said Taylor.
Despite his struggles in the Manchester Test, Cummins is the second-leading wicket-taker in the series with 16 scalps.
The 30-year-old could also become the first Aussie skipper since Steve Waugh in 2001 to lead the side to a Test series win in England, with a victory or draw in the final game at the Oval.