Skippers' stark contrast after Boxing Day belting

The mandatory media conferences held in the hour after Australia added the final rites to another thumping win over South Africa could scarcely have been more poignantly symbolic.

The room in which this ritual played out – a windowless bunker in the giant stadium's basement, as soulless as it is airless – is located directly between the rival teams' dressing rooms.

And it was in that no man's land that the contrasting spirit of the opposing camp was laid brutally bare.

Victorious skipper Pat Cummins sat flanked by his fellow fast bowler and close mate Mitchell Starc – to lend "a bit of support", according to the team's media officer – sporting a broad smile and spilling superlatives as he lauded one of the best Test wins in which he's been involved.

Among the plaudits Cummins dispensed with a generosity at odds with his parsimonious bowling was a salute to the courage and selflessness his team displayed during a Boxing Day Test that challenged both teams physically and mentally.

He paid tribute to Starc's preparedness to bat for more than 20 minutes on day three and then take the new ball for a couple of blistering spells yesterday and today despite nursing tendon damage to his left middle finger that's so severe he's likely to be sidelined for a couple of months.

He also singled out allrounder Cameron Green's similarly brave contribution with a busted right index digit which will also require corrective surgery, but was not sufficient to stop him partnering Alex Carey in a 117-run stand that carried Australia to a position of impregnability.

And he noted the super-human deeds of batters David Warner and Steve Smith who endured torturous temperatures around 40C to grind the Proteas into the dust, and even Josh Hazlewood who didn’t even make it on to the field having ruled himself out of selection pre-game as he returns from injury.

"It just speaks volumes for the team at the moment," Cummins said in the wake of his team's innings-and-182-runs triumph that sealed an NRMA Insurance Series win that he described several times as "gutsy".

"There's so much care, everyone will do anything for each other so it's in a really good place.

"All the incredible achievements this week."

Then, as if encapsulate the sum total of these individual triumphs in a single thought, Cummins declared the current iteration of Australia's men's Test outfit as the best he's been involved with throughout his injury-interrupted journey that began in 2011.

"It's probably the best Test team I've played in, just in terms of how well settled everyone is and how well everyone knows their game plan," Cummins said.

'In terms of captaining, I don't feel like I have to do much at all.

"Everyone looks after themselves and I just try to make sure the bus is on time, which the team manager does, and everyone does their thing when they get here.

"It's just in a really sweet spot at the moment.

"We know it's not going to stay like this forever, but we can all kind of sit back and appreciate the place we're in.

"It's really special and we're having a lot of fun as well, doing it together with some of your best mates."

His assessment was echoed by his wingman, Starc, who admitted he'll be pushing to be fully fit for the start of Australia's upcoming four-Test tour of India in February-March given his finger injury.

But the left-arm quick, who claimed his 300th Test wicket in Australia's equally emphatic two-day win at the Gabba earlier this month, spoke of the mutual enjoyment every member of the squad gains from each other's presence and success.

And he echoed his skipper's thoughts on the values the group embraces, from its 'team-first' ethos to the willingness of individuals to play through discomfort for the sake of the greater good.

"It's just a really enjoyable place to be, and I think it's been that way particularly for the last 18-24 months," Starc said prior to flying to Sydney to consult with a finger specialist.

"It's a settled team, there's a lot of trust there whether it be for preparation and knowing what you need to be ready for a Test or know you're going to be able to deliver during the week.

"Little things along the way, whether it be Greeny coming out with a broken finger, or Joshy (Hazlewood) putting his hand up or Davey (Warner) batting forever in 38 degrees.

"It's team-first for this group no matter what, and doing that with a lot of your closest mates is just a fun place to be.

"We're playing some good cricket and a lot of big opportunities coming up that are going to be really special for this group."

The contrast between the ebullient pair and South Africa skipper Dean Elgar when he took a seat before in the same room was almost as disparate in the scorelines from the two NRMA Insurance Tests thus far.

Image Id: 05B9F0E3D1B94C62824C4E499DDCC7E3 Image Caption: Cummins and Elgar at the toss on Boxing Day // cricket.com.au

Elgar, the Proteas' most experienced and prolific Test batter, has endured a horror series with 31 runs from four innings (and a best return of 26) and conceded there were decidedly more negatives than positives to take from the huge defeat at the MCG with four sessions remaining in the game.

Perhaps the most revelatory insight from the vanquished captain, given the courageous deeds Cummins had been extolling about his men, came when Elgar was asked if he felt the courage he called for prior to the series starting had manifested.

"I don't think there has been a lot of it," Elgar said today.

"There's been a lot more with the ball in hand.

"Take away the Gabba result, just purely out of this Test, I think a lot more character was shown with the ball even though the Aussies batted us into the ground.

"I really saw a lot of character come out in our bowling ranks, but maybe not as much in our batting.

"A pretty weak performance I'd say, in conditions that I felt were in favour of really good Test cricket.

"I'm pretty disappointed in how things ended up, whether it was today or tomorrow I still wanted to see us with a fighting chance going out there and still giving the Aussies a bit of a tough time by really taking pride in our wickets.

"But the way it unfolded was quite disappointing."

Image Id: FF96AEBBAD67428D80DB88A7823DD384 Image Caption: Cummins has removed Elgar in two of his four innings this tour // Getty

Elgar maintains the gulf between Australia and his flaky top-order batting is not talent nor will, but rather the inexperience of South Africa's batting which reflects the limited exposure they have received to Test matches in the past year or more.

He pointed out they are being forced to learn the trade in the "most ruthless and brutal way" at the hands of the world's top-ranked Test outfit, but claimed that would bring greater long-term value for his players than tackling lesser rivals.

"There are more learnings in this than going out and playing a team of similar strength and we beat them," he said.

"I would still love for our guys to be exposed to more of this, and obviously it’s so those guys can be fast-tracked in the international arena."

Elgar cited pride "in the cap, and in the badge" as motivation for what will be effectively a dead-rubber series finale in Sydney next week, and admitted he had not had time to consider if personnel changes would be needed for that game given the hammering copped in Brisbane and Melbourne.

For Cummins, the reportedly dry wicket awaiting at the SCG not only provides another challenge for a team that has taken great satisfaction from its ability to "find a way to win" on different playing surfaces in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and at home over the past year.

It also presents a chance – with the injuries copped over recent days – to trial players who might be in the mix for India, in conditions that may well resemble what awaits in the subcontinent.

"It might give us a chance to look at one or two players that will be on that Indian tour ahead of that, but the first priority of course is to win that Test match," Cummins said.

"I feel like we've found a way wherever we've played.

"We've been dynamic and it hasn't just been 11 players it's been 14 or 15 we've leaned on who are very much part of this team even if they haven't got a chance in these last few games."

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v South Africa

First Test: Australia won by six wickets

Second Test: Australia won by an innings and 182 runs

Jan 4-8: Third Test, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Lance Morris, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner

South Africa squad: Dean Elgar (c), Temba Bavuma, Gerald Coetzee, Theunis de Bruyn, Sarel Eree, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Heinrich Klaasen, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams, Khaya Zondo

Buy #AUSvSA Test tickets here