Cummins flags tactics review after 'rare off week'

Pat Cummins conceded he badly misfired with the ball in the Old Trafford Test but denied the captaincy had overwhelmed him after England exposed Australia's tactical deficiencies.

Cummins stopped short of labelling it his most difficult moment as skipper but admitted a strategic review of their bowling plans will be required ahead of this week's Test at The Oval.

The worst of the carnage came during the middle session on day two when England scored at more than seven runs an over as the 'big three' pacemen of Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood went for nearly 400 runs between them for the innings.

Zac Crawley chanced his arm, especially early in his innings, but then put Australia to the sword to score 189 at better than a run a ball before Jonny Bairstow (99no) piled on more pain in a 66-run last-wicket partnership.

"That two-hour block in the middle session wasn't our best," said Cummins, insisting he had been "proud" of how his side had wrestled back control at other points in the innings.

"We tried to throw a few different plans at them and maybe on another day they work; a couple of the edges carry through or some of the catches go to hand, but I thought they batted well."

It was statistically the poorest game of Cummins' Test career with the ball.

His figures of 1-129 from 23 overs marked the most expensive economy rate he has ever finished with, while it was also the most runs he has ever conceded in a Test innings.

To make matters worse, he dropped a catch and missed another he might have taken had he not anticipated the wrong direction, while he contributed just one run with the bat before being out on the first delivery of day two.

At times, the leadership appeared a burden for Australia's first ever permanent fast bowler-captain, particularly as Bairstow wrought havoc on day three when teammates looked confused over where they needed to be in the field.

"As a bowler it's frustrating that I didn't bowl very well at all, not up to the standards I try and keep myself to," said Cummins, whose record of 237 wickets at 22.52 puts him among Australia's all-time great bowlers.

But asked if that had been because the captaincy had overwhelmed him, he said: "I don't think so.

"Just execution. I let through more boundaries than I normally do. Probably just one or two bad balls an over.

"I don't know (why) really. Rhythm felt pretty good, I felt like I was pretty clear in my own mind with plans, so I don't know."

Australia's batting across both innings also left plenty to be desired, with a handful of batters throwing away starts on the first day to finish with a sub-par tally of 317 in their first dig.

Marnus Labuschagne scored a defiant century in the second innings but Mark Wood exposed their top-order's frailties against raw pace when he dismissed three of their top five.

"I think across the board in all facets we just weren't at our best. It happens," said Cummins.

"I think the good thing is if you look at the body of work of this team it's quite rare we have an off week across the board.

"I don't think we can put our finger on just one thing (that went wrong)."

England are certain to be equally, if not even more, aggressive in the final Test when they attempt to level a series that Australia now cannot lose, with the draw in Manchester confirming they have retained the urn.

Cummins flagged that their tactics need to be revisited.

"You definitely look at what you can try and do differently for next time. That will be part of this week for sure," he said.

"I think there are some obvious things we could do a little bit differently. Maybe some plans, the way we executed our bowling.

"As a group, proud that we've retained the Ashes but it's off the back of not our greatest week.

"We know we've got a fair bit of work to do for next week, a few improvements to make."

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