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

Pat Cummins, the Australian captain, has voiced his satisfaction with his team's impressive commencement to the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. Australia, a consistent presence in the WTC Finals, having reached the title clash in the past two editions, have secured victories in their initial two Tests of this fresh cycle. This follows their decisive series-clinching triumph against the West Indies in Grenada.

Cummins elated with team's strong comeback after WTC Final loss © AFP

"Winning away from home is never easy, so I'm really pumped with how we bounced back after Lord's (WTC Final)," Cummins stated after the Grenada Test. "It's been a good couple of weeks. With a pink ball Test coming up next week, it's great to have already secured the series. Those games always present unique challenges. It's a dream start really, two wins from two, gets us rolling in the cycle, and we've played some really good cricket."

Cummins also lauded the experienced players within the squad, with special mention given to Steve Smith. Smith played a crucial innings, scoring a vital half-century to steady the ship in the second innings when the team was struggling at 28/3, with a lead of just 61. "I think experience is a significant factor; we talked about having someone like Steve Smith back," Cummins highlighted. "He may not have played at Grenada, but he's played on many wickets where you have to find different ways to score. It might not be big drives down the ground or whatever it is; you've got to scrap your way to a 50, and I think that comes with experience."

"With experience, you've encountered similar problems before, and you have a level of calmness that allows you to work through the issue. As a captain, it makes my job a lot easier knowing you have a lot of 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, managing only 33 runs in four innings. "Every innings feels like the biggest thing in the world," he said regarding Konstas. "But I think the statistic is that even the best batters in the world don't hit their average three out of four times or something like that. You're going to fail more often than you're going to succeed."

"As long as you're a quick learner, as long as you're 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 illustrious career, Brathwaite's 100th Test wasn't particularly successful. His recent scores of 4, 4, 0, and 7 have led head coach Daren Sammy to consider his future for the next game. "He hasn't looked good this series, and in a team where you are searching for performances, you get very close to saying, 'okay, do we give somebody else a chance?'" Sammy stated. "But we will have a really good discussion – myself, the selection group, and the captain himself – about that particular situation."

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

"If you look at all the averages, we barely have guys averaging 40-plus in (first-class) cricket. Those types of pitches don't allow you to develop technically sound players because you're always unsure. There's always doubt. And in an ideal world, you want to see our guys perform because of, not in spite of, the conditions. 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."