He’s played just 18 Tests since his debut just over seven years ago. 17 of those Tests have come in the last two years. As an 18-year-old phenom who bowled above 150kph he had the world at his feet. His return as an enforcer who averages in the low 140kph but has all the aggression and fire to back up his short of a length attack he has been the man to find the wickets when his team needs them, but the main rewards have seemed to come to the bowlers at the other end rather than to him. Today’s cricket finally put paid to that, as Pat Cummins reaped the rewards that he so thoroughly deserves in delivering to Australia a much-needed Test match victory in just over two and a half days.
Australia’s bowlers have not been exempt from criticism this summer, though their job has been made exceptionally more difficult by the fac that they are getting on average only a couple of sessions rest between innings which makes it difficult for them to be at their best. Mitchell Starc has taken the brunt of this disgruntlement, and though it is not misplaced he is probably for the first time feeling the pressure of being the leader of the pack. Having lost Hazlewood for the immediate future he would be pushing even harder to make the breakthroughs, but presently it is not happening for him. Again today he tried hard but gained nothing. To me, as a hack analyist, his rhythm just doesn’t look right. He needs to g back and look at video highlights of the way he bowled in the 2015 World Cup, when everything he did turned to gold. Studying those will surely give him an idea as to what he did right then and isn’t doing now. If he can’t find his mojo soon his presence in either teams to tour England may not be in strife but actually appearing on the field could be in jeopardy.
Replacing Starc and Hazlewood here was the new pairing, Cummins and Richardson. Jhye Richardson continued on from his good work in the first innings, barely leaking a run while he attacked the batsmen mercilessly. He finished with 2/19 from 13 overs and was constantly threatening and proved to be the perfect foil for his pace partner. His was a dream debut, and with the promise of more to come.
The star though was Cummins, the new vice-captain of Australia, who started it all off with the last ball of the previous evening. With his second ball of the third day he had Chandimal caught in the gully by Patterson to a full pitched delivery. With his seventh ball of the day he had Mendis caught at second slip driving at a full ball again. With his 36th ball of the day he picked up Silva, again caught by Burns at second slip driving at a full pitched delivery. The significance of these wickets shouldn’t be glossed over. Cummins has made a new career out of getting batsmen out with short pitched bowling, but here on a grassy Gabba pitch with a newish pink ball he was using his old method of full seaming deliveries to pick up wickets. At his pace, and with a full slips cordon, it was a terrific sight to see. For those who have begun to look forward to the upcoming World Cup and especially the Ashes series in England, it was a sign that in these types of conditions Australia’s premier fast bowler can adjust his lengths and tactics to suit the conditions. At this point Cummins had 4/9 and was rolling.
In picking up Thirimanne, Sri Lanka’s last line of defence, with the same ball and method of dismissal as Karunaratne the previous evening, Cummins secured his fourth five-wicket innings in Test cricket. When Kurtis Patterson took one of the catches of the season, diving full length from gully to take the ball one handed while horizontal a few feet off the ground to dismiss Perera, Cummins had taken his first ten-wicket match in Test cricket, and finished with his best ever bowling figures of 6/23 from 15 overs. Paine’s stumping off Lyon to end the Sri Lankan innings at 9/139 (with the injured Kumara unable to bat) left Australia as victors by an innings and 40 runs, and the smiles everywhere were a reward for the effort.
The three days of this Test have brought a refreshing look to the Australian team, though not one that has the feel of permanency to it. The catching in the cordon of Burns, Labuschagne and Patterson was excellent, as was the fact that Australia’s bowlers were able to garner so many false strokes and edges from the batsmen. The positives in the batting outweighed the one possible negative of Khawaja again failing to deliver a big score himself. That the win was secured over an already understrength Sri Lankan team that suffered further injury concerns through the course of the match probably hasn’t been highlighted. That this team needs to do a similar job next week in the 2nd Test is also something that needs to be made clear. A win is a win and should be celebrated. That it was brought forth by a man who has fought so hard to gain full health and deliver on his undoubted promise is perhaps the best news of all.
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