“If Australia had lost, everyone would've been questioning his tactics; he wins, and it's genius” - Nasser Hussain on Pat Cummins

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has praised Australian skipper Pat Cummins for his terrific knock under pressure on Day 5 of the Edgbaston Test on Tuesday (June 20). Hussain, though, added that while everyone is going gaga over Cummins the leader, his tactics would have been questioned had Australia lost the Test.

The Australian captain scored a valuable 38 in the first innings and claimed four wickets in England’s second innings, before coming up with a match-winning 44* on the final day.

Chasing 281, Australia were in trouble when they lost their eighth wicket at 227. However, Cummins and Nathan Lyon (16*) added an unbroken 55 for the ninth wicket to lift Australia to a famous win.

Cummins struck four fours and two sixes as Australia took the lead in the five-match series. Hailing the Australian captain, Hussain wrote in his column in The Daily Mail:

“To be able to hang in there when England played the way they did, Joe Root scooping him and him having to set fields to counteract it, was a mark of him as both a cricketer and character.

"The criticism he faced for adopting defensive fields, the ability to soak all of that up, and then on the fifth evening come out with 72 runs needed and bat in such a clinical manner was exceptional.”

The former player opined that Cummins took the right option with just about every stroke, knowing when to soak things up and when to smash it. Hussain elaborated:

“His sense of timing was spot-on, and when England were down on their knees, he pounced with those couple of sixes off Joe Root. When men were placed out for the hook, and they targeted his ribs, he swayed out of the way. He was so cool and calm under immense pressure.”

Reflecting on Cummins’ captaincy, Hussain said that the Australian captain would have been questioned over his tactics had the visitors lost. Hussain wrote:

“If Australia had lost, everyone would've been questioning his tactics, and his captaincy for being too defensive. He wins, and it's genius.

"That's pretty much international captaincy = if you win, you get back to all the decisions that you make, and if things go against you, then people pick them apart.”

Resuming Day 5 at Edgbaston on 107-3, Australia lost Scott Boland for 20 and Travis Head for 16, but Usman Khawaja (65 off 197) yet again anchored the innings before Cummins did the finishing job.

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“The amount of ground Cummins must've covered in the last few weeks is incredible” - Hussain

In his column, Hussain also hailed Cummins over his physical fitness, pointing out that he recently led Australia to victory against India in the World Test Championship final at The Oval, where he also bowled a lot. The former England cricketer wrote:

“The physical aspect of his display should not be forgotten either. He's just done a full Test match vs India, and he was still able to perform like that after five days of the most intense cricket against England.

“How he responds to the series with such physical demands are yet to be seen, but he's given his team the ideal start in their quest to win their first series here in 22 years,” Hussain concluded.

The second Test of Ashes 2023 will be played at Lord's in London from June 28 to July 2.