Cummins keeps calm and carries on to Ashes finale

Pat Cummins was so fatigued when he arrived at The Oval for the final Test of the 2019 Ashes campaign he feared that for the first – and so far, only – time of his international career he might not have sufficient energy to take the field.

The fact he subsequently went on to claim five wickets in that match, which England ultimately won by 135 runs, says much about his capacity to rise above the sort of physical and mental exhaustion he is likely to again confront in another Ashes showdown starting on Thursday.

However, Cummins has confirmed he feels significantly fresher coming into this week's match than he did the corresponding game four years ago despite now carrying the additional burden of captaining the team as well as leading the attack.

In the immediate aftermath of the rain-ruined draw at Old Trafford that saw Australia retain the urn where Cummins and his fellow bowlers were put to the sword by England's batters, his Test captaincy predecessor Tim Paine expressed concerns as to how exhausted the current skipper had appeared.

Paine pointed to the fact Cummins' bowling speeds at Old Trafford had dropped to around 130kph or below, and he urged team management to ensure his successor was kept away from training and all cricket-related activities prior to the final Test starting on Thursday.

But Cummins did appear at his team's major pre-Test training run at The Oval on Tuesday afternoon and, in addition to gently rolling over his arm for a light bowling stint and batting in the nets, he fronted media to confirm he's ready to roll as Australia chase their first Ashes series win in the UK since 2001.

"I remember turning up here in 2019 for the fifth Test and I was wrecked," he told reporters at The Oval.

"It's probably the only time in my career where I thought I genuinely might not be able to play.

"But I still did a decent job then, and I feel in a much better position now."

Part of the reason fears have been raised over Cummins' wherewithal to carry the dual workload of on-field captaincy responsibilities with his bowling requirements is that England's ultra-aggressive style of batting has meant there's no escape from the relentless pressure.

His return of 1-129 from 23 overs in England's only batting innings at Old Trafford last week represented the least economical stint (in terms of average runs per over) in his Test career.

Furthermore, England's total of 592 from less than 108 overs led some to question whether Cummins could continue to combine the captaincy role with his bowling duties, such was the sense of chaos that ensued from the brazen 'Bazball' assault.

While he laughed off suggestions that his captaincy credentials should be re-examined because of last week's runs-fest at Manchester, he also accepted full responsibility for the on-field tactics that saw England score at almost 5.5 runs per over with Australia seemingly powerless to quell them.

"I've been in this job two years now and you learn pretty quickly that you've got to have a thick skin," Cummins said of the criticism that flowed from day two at Old Trafford.

"It's such a great bunch of players and staff here that we all know what everyone is about, and how we are going to go about it and for me that's more important than anything else.

"I'm not going to please everyone and everyone's got opinions but they aren't facts, they're opinions.

"It's something we speak a lot of as a group (keeping) a calm environment, it's off the field but on the field as well and it probably wasn't our best day in terms of that.

"And that's my fault, it's no one else's.

"It's tough – you're out there, the wicket's a flat wicket, the batters are batting well, it's played at a different pace to pretty much any Test cricket before.

"But you've seen similar on the flip side as well with them (England) having nine fielders out, the whole dynamic is different.

"I love the problem-solving aspect of it (and) learnt a lot of lessons from the last game."

Teammate Travis Head also spoke about Australia's response to the onslaught from England's top and middle-orders before keeper Jonny Bairstow launched a final bombardment with the tail, and conceded part of the problem lay with the sorts of fields Australia deployed.

Not so much the positioning of them, but the reality of having all nine (bar bowler and wicketkeeper) on the boundary rope as was the case at Old Trafford (and also in earlier England innings this series) meant conversations between them were almost non-existent.

Head revealed Australia had planned for that sort of contingency knowing England's batting approach would lead them to have a "day out" as they did on day two at Old Trafford where they piled on 384 from 72 overs.

But the reality of dealing with that level of aggression when confronted by it proved an altogether different proposition to countering it in theory, and Cummins concedes it is magnified by the frenetic approach England have very publicly brought to Test cricket.

"I think it happens a lot in cricket," he said.

"In some ways, 20 Test matches into my captaincy, I'm surprised that there's only been a couple of moments really, where we've really been challenged.

"You get it all the time in T20 cricket and one-day cricket.

"There are times in Australia, where we're bowling and the game might not be going at a certain pace but you are searching for answers on how to get a wicket, so it's nothing new.

"This group has been awesome over the last couple of years (so) one innings doesn't bother us too much. 

"I think you've got to hold your nerve a little bit sometimes.

"You've got to trust that's your best percentage to get nicks even if they hit a few cover drives.

"You've got to keep your catchers in, got to take wickets.

"I think we've been pretty consistent this series, always got slips in when we think they are in the game.

"It's just clarity of thinking at times, working through plans and having a balance between being well-planned and then going with gut feel."

As for his own bowling, Cummins can point to the fact he is Australia's leading wicket-taker in the series with 16 at an albeit inflated average of 33.36 after Old Trafford, with only England's veteran seamer Stuart Broad (18 at 28.55) more potent.

He also claims he's not studied footage of his bowling in the fourth Test to try and work out what went amiss, but indicated he would likely examine it prior to the Ashes finale though he wasn't overly concerned about any major flaws creeping in.

"I've played enough to not worry about it too much," Cummins said.

"I think it's normally small margins … ​when I'm at my best I'm concentrating on my own areas and what makes me a good bowler and not worrying about the other end.

"Maybe a bit of a mindset shift.

"But again, most of my rhythm felt really good, so I'm not too worried."

2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK

First Test: Australia won by two wickets

Second Test: Australia won by 43 runs

Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley

Fourth Test: Match drawn

Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood