Australia's Cummins Hails Dream Start to WTC Campaign After West Indies Series Win

Pat Cummins, the Australian captain, has voiced his satisfaction with his team's auspicious beginning to the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. After reaching the finals in the previous two WTC editions, Australia has secured victories in their first two Tests of this cycle, triumphing over the West Indies in Grenada to clinch the series.

Cummins reflects on the team's bounce-back performance after Lord's. © AFP

"To secure an away win is always a challenge, so we are really pumped with how we bounced back after Lord's (WTC Final)," Cummins commented following the Grenada Test. "It's been a good couple of weeks. With the pink ball Test coming up next week, it's good to secure the series before that. These matches always present unique challenges. It's a dream start really, two wins from two, which sets us up well in the cycle, and we've played some really good cricket."

Cummins also commended the experienced members of his squad, specifically highlighting Steve Smith's crucial half-century that rescued the team from a precarious 28/3 in the second innings, with a lead of just 61 runs. "I think experience is a big factor; we talked about someone like Steve Smith coming back," Cummins noted. "He may not have played at Grenada, but he's played on many wickets where you have to find a different way to score. It might not be big drives down the ground, but you have to scrap your way to a 50, and I think that comes with experience."

He further added, "With experience, you've encountered similar problems before, and you have a level of calmness that allows you to work through them. As a captain, it makes my life a lot easier knowing you have many settled players there."

The 32-year-old captain also expressed his support for young opener Sam Konstas, who has struggled to make a significant impact in the series, scoring only 33 runs in four innings. "Every innings feels like the biggest thing in the world," he said about Konstas. "But the stats show that even the best batters in the world don't hit their average three out of four times. You're going to fail more often than you're going to succeed."

Cummins advised, "As long as you're a quick learner, moving well, and giving yourself the best chance, just keep doubling down on that and judge yourself after a series or so, not innings by innings."

Another opener facing scrutiny in the series is West Indies' former captain Kraigg Brathwaite. Despite his recent decline in form, Brathwaite's 100th Test was not particularly fruitful. He has recorded scores of 4, 4, 0, and 7, prompting head coach Daren Sammy to consider his future for the next game. "He hasn't looked good this series, and in a team searching for performances, you get close to saying, 'Okay, do we give someone else a chance?'" Sammy stated. "But we will have a good discussion, myself, the selection group, and the captain himself, about that particular situation."

However, Sammy also acknowledged that Caribbean pitches need improvement to produce better Test batters. "It's hard to produce the quality of batters that we want to compete," he noted. "When you look at the surfaces we play on, it's hard."

He elaborated, "If you look at all the averages, we barely have guys averaging 40-plus in (first-class) cricket. These types of pitches don't allow you to develop technically sound batters, because you're always unsure. There's always doubt. In an ideal world, you want to see our guys perform because of, not in spite of. It's something myself, the director of cricket, the franchise system, we've looked at very, very closely in trying to change that, trying to send the head groundsmen all over, trying to get the sort of wickets that allow batters to trust their techniques and stuff like that. And we also have some probably technical deficiencies that carry on from the Under-19, the youth level up to the national team."