'Good enough': Pat Cummins' eye-opening call about Aussie opener for WTC final
Australia captain Pat Cummins has the chance to become the first skipper to lead his team to back-to-back World Test Cricket Championships. In a one-on-one sit-down interview with Yahoo Sport Australia ahead of this week's final against South Africa at Lord's, he spoke about Australia's "good" problem at the top of the order, Kagiso Rabada's return from a drugs ban, the MCC members and even Ange Postecoglou's Spurs sacking.
Speaking two days out from the start of the final, Cummins insists nothing is set in concrete as far as the top order is concerned. But it appears Marnus Labuschagne may have his nose in front of Sam Konstas for the vacant opening position, with Cameron Green likely to bat at 3.
"There are three or four guys to fit into one spot and you can mount a case for basically any one of them. It's a really good problem to have. The selectors will get together in the next 48 hours and have a good look at the wicket and stay open-minded," he said.
"Marn's batted three pretty much his whole career and there's been many games where he's walked out in the first over against the swinging ball. I know a lot of the batters probably say it makes a difference where they bat in the order, but for me he's good enough to play anywhere.
"It tends to be that way (Labuschagne at his best when cornered). In the ODI World Cup, it was almost like every game was pretty close to (possibly being the end) but he hung in there and finds a way."
Now into its third edition, the World Test Championship has fast become a coveted title. Australia has the chance to become the first team to win consecutive crowns.
"I think the journey to make a final is tough. You've got to win away and home across two years and you need a real strong squad of players," Cummins pointed out. "For us, it's hugely relevant and a huge achievement to make the final. The opportunity to go back-to-back's really big."
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They're a side we don't know super well in red ball cricket but have played most of them in white ball. And playing them with a Duke's (ball) over in England, you can't quite match it up exactly to previous tours. What we do know is they will be strong with both bat and ball."
The South African quick's speedy return following a reduced drugs ban raised a few eyebrows in the cricketing world, as did his follow-up comments that he expects a verbal barrage from the Aussies. Cummins said: "He's always up for a Test match. He gets them going and is pretty fiery. I'm sure he will be a challenge but our batters are up for it," Cummins said.
"I think all our batters can look at their attack and where we've done well against him and draw confidence from that." As for the Rabada drugs controversy, the Aussie skipper said: "It's got nothing to do with us. He can play so it doesn't really bother us."
The last time the Australians were at Lord's for a Test match, all hell broke loose after the members physically and verbally attacked the tourists in the wake of the Jonny Bairstow stumping. Measures have been put in place to keep members away from the players, but Cummins is not expecting any lingering hostility.
"The good thing about London is there's lots of Aussies here and they are keen to come to the game," he said. "I think it's pretty packed crowds for most of the days and it'll be interesting to see (the support levels for both teams). It always feel like we've got pretty decent support here."
While Australia's first point of business is the WTC final, there is no escaping the Ashes buzz in England. The Poms, for their part, are promising to tweak their Bazball approach while dropping some of the corporate talk.
"Everyone's already talking about it but I don't see too much connection from this to the Ashes," Cummins said. "But if we go into the summer holding two maces, that would be a nice thing for our group to do. I haven't seen anything (about walking back from Bazball), because I'm always just worried about what we do and not too bothered about what the opposition do."
Cummins holds the highest office in Australian sport and was in London when Spurs dropped the axe on manager Ange Postecoglou just 16 days after the club's Europa Cup success.
He empathises with his fellow Aussie and cricket tragic, saying: "It's a shame to see, especially after winning that trophy. I know the league's been a bit tough, but he's been a successful coach for a long time and I'm sure he'll bounce back and another team will snap him up pretty quickly."
The ICC World Test Championship final (June 11-15) is on Prime Video and available to all members in Australia at no additional cost to their membership. Coverage starts 7.30pm (AEST). Pat Cummins is a Prime Video ambassador.
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'We want to make history, every time, and then we try to make history repeat itself.' Zwane arrived at Sundowns because the club decided to focus hard on recruiting the best young players from the townships. One of the coaches involved was Trott Moloto, who has filled almost every role at the club. In the 1980s, he was assistant to head coach Stanley 'Screamer' Tshabalala when he returned from Italy with new ideas, having studied methods at Milan, Inter and Juventus. 'Shoeshine and piano' came from a few words that he picked up and the things that he saw. Tshabalala was convinced that he'd heard one of the coaches say 'piano', as well as another word that sounded like 'shoeshine'. The coach was trying to tell his players to 'calm down'. For Moloto, he has seen the spirit passed down from Tshabalala in Zwane. 'When he gets the ball, he has already thought about his next move,' he explains at Chloorkop. 'When I watch Themba, I see shoeshine and piano.' 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