Cummins Hails Australia's Strong Start to World Test Championship Campaign

Pat Cummins, the Australian captain, has voiced his satisfaction with his team's impressive beginning 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, has secured victories in their initial two Test matches of this cycle. This follows their dominant series-clinching performance against the West Indies in Grenada.

Cummins: Bouncing back after Lord's final was crucial © AFP

"Winning away from home is always a challenge, so we are 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. Looking ahead to the pink ball Test next week, it's great to have already secured the series. These matches always present unique challenges. It's a dream start really, two wins from two, sets us up well in the cycle, and we played some really good cricket."

Cummins also lauded the experienced members of the squad, especially Steve Smith, who played a crucial half-century in the second innings when the team was struggling at 28/3, with a lead of only 61 runs. "I think experience plays a significant role. We talked about having someone like Steve Smith back," Cummins highlighted. "He might not have played at Grenada, but he's played on numerous wickets where you have to find different ways to score. It might not be big drives down the ground, you've got to scrap your way to a 50, and that comes with experience."

He further added, "With experience, you've encountered similar problems before, and you possess a level of calmness to navigate through them. As a captain, it makes my job much easier knowing that I have a lot of settled players in the team."

The 32-year-old captain also showed support for young opener Sam Konstas, who has found it difficult to make a significant impact in the series, scoring only 33 runs in four innings so far. "Every innings feels like the biggest thing in the world," he said regarding Konstas. "But statistically, 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."

He advised, "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. With his recent form declining, Brathwaite's 100th Test wasn't particularly productive. He has recorded scores of 4, 4, 0, and 7, prompting head coach Daren Sammy to consider his future for the upcoming game. "He hasn't looked good this series, and in a team where you are searching for performances, you get very close to say 'okay, do we give somebody else a chance?'" Sammy said. "But we will really have a good discussion, myself, the selection group, and the captain himself, about that particular situation."

Sammy also admitted that the pitches in the Caribbean need improvement to cultivate 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 that 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. Those type of pitches, it doesn't allow you to come up technically sound, because you're really unsure. There's always doubt. And 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."