Cummins leads from the front
Pat Cummins’ first day in charge of the Australian cricket team was one captains can only dream of.
Greeted by grey skies and a green Gabba wicket, test cricket’s history books suggest bowling first isn’t a good idea.
Cummins lost his first toss and was asked to bowl – guilt-free. He threw the new ball to under-fire bowler Mitchell Starc, who hit Rory Burns’ leg stump with the first ball of the series.
After bringing himself on to bowl at England skipper Joe Root, he didn’t quite get the chance to gain an early edge on his counterpart as Josh Hazlewood claimed Root’s wicket.
But he chimed in with a couple, including the other big scalp of Ben Stokes, to make it 4-29 before cleaning up the tail to finish with a personal haul of 5-38.
In a blink England were skittled for 147. Wickets fell so regularly that there were hardly any headscratching moments to test Australia’s 47th skipper.
But he remained proactive with his bowling changes, presenting allrounder Cameron Green with an opportunity to claim his first test wicket and extracting the best out of Starc in short bursts.
And he leant on former captain and new deputy Steve Smith who helped with field settings and the odd chat, particularly when offspinner Nathan Lyon was bowling.
But he kept it low-key in a partnership Cummins has already acknowledged will look a little different to the norm given his rare position as a fast-bowling captain.
‘‘Everything went to plan,’’ he told Fox Sports of his dream start.
‘‘I was handed the team sheets [before the toss], it was a bit of a moment. I walked out and thought ‘I haven’t done this in so long’.
‘‘I came back and told the batters ‘I’d won the toss and chose to bowl, looked after you’.’’
Cummins admitted he wasn’t sure how he’d handle the glare and added responsibility of captaincy. The early signs are promising. After England’s innings, there was no further play because of a heavy downpour and bad light. –