AUS vs WI: "It Felt Like A Big Missed Opportunity That First One" - Pat Cummins Does Not Want To Lose Australia's Realistic Chance At WTC Final

Australia’s captain, Pat Cummins, acknowledged that his team didn’t realise what they had missed out on at the time of the incident on the eve of the first home Test of a new summer, the first of nine Test matches leading up to the 2023 WTC final. 

Australia felt that they had finally won that one major international trophy that had eluded them for so long when they won the T20 World Cup in 2021. However, the truth is that in 2021, another trophy, albeit a freshly manufactured one, figuratively slipped through their fingers. 

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Australia was penalised points for slow over-rates, which prevented them from competing in the 2021 World Test Championship final.

Ashes And India Series Big Battles: Pat Cummins

“I think being new, it probably didn’t hit us until the game was actually played and you saw over there New Zealand did well and you wish you were there,” Cummins said on Tuesday in Perth.

“So it feels like second time around it’s got a little bit more on it. It felt like a big missed opportunity that first one. So it certainly gives a bit more context to every series now, something big to play for.” 

Every Test match now has significance for this Australian side, despite the fact that there is a general malaise about Australian cricket right now for a variety of reasons, including concerns that the Perth fans would not show up in droves to watch the first Test played in this city since 2019. 

“The big series, say Ashes or India series where you play four or five Test matches are obviously big battles, whereas the more common series where you play two or three in a series, it gives them a bit more global context and something a bit extra to play for,” Pat Cummins said. 

This two-Test series has a lot on the line, even though the Australian audience may not fully realise it because they are still pining for an old-fashioned matchup with the West Indies. Australia is now in first place in the World Test Championship standings and is certain to advance to the final in England the following year. 

Current Australian Team Most Stable Ever I Played In: Pat Cummins

For the first time, Pat Cummins and a handful of his teammates have started discussing the importance of the upcoming eight months of Test cricket for a bunch of players whose Test careers are about to come to an end. 

The core of the Australian Test team for the previous ten years has included David Warner, Steven Smith, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, and Josh Hazlewood. Warner, Khawaja, and Lyon are now all in their 30s. The other members of the squad, Alex Carey and Marcus Harris, are all older than 30, while Pat Cummins will turn 30 in May of next year. 

While Khawaja acknowledged the team would enter a transition phase sooner rather than later, something Cummins hoped would be later but confirmed was on the horizon, Warner has already hinted this could be his final 12 months in Test cricket, although he walked those quotes back in the lead-up to the Test in Perth. 

“In the next six or seven months we have got 15 Test matches, hopefully, there won’t be any turnover before that but of course, it is coming,” Pat Cummins said. 

“To be honest it is the most stable team I have played in ever. You could probably have picked the side 12 months ago. I feel like we are in a good spot.” 

Exciting Opportunity For Our Group: Pat Cummins

A group that, despite currently holding the No. 1 ranking in the world, hasn’t won as many major Test trophies as their collective talent may have merited has a golden opportunity during an eight-month period of Test cricket that includes 15 matches against the West Indies and South Africa at home, India and England away, and the World T20 final if they make it there.

There is a feeling that those 15 Test matches may help the Australian team leave a lasting legacy. 

“I think it is such an exciting opportunity for our group, to play four of the biggest series you are ever going to play as an Aussie Test cricketer within six or seven months, that is a once a career opportunity,” Pat Cummins said.

“That’s all ahead of us, that’s exciting. Obviously, a home summer is always big, with a World Test Championship, that’s something big to play for. We get a few wins here it pretty much guarantees our spot in London. We have all come here fresh. We know it’s a big block of cricket and we are excited for it.” 

They cannot, however, afford any mistakes as they made in 2021. They have already lost opportunities to improve their standing on the WTC table in Test cricket this year.

Both in Karachi in March when they dropped several catches and Pakistan survived 171.4 overs in the fourth innings, and in Sydney in January when they failed to finish off the fourth Ashes Test as England survived nine-down. After winning the toss and playing Sri Lanka on day one, they were 204 for 2 and lost by an innings there as well. 

Given that they have a challenging four-Test tour of India to contend with in February and March and have only won one Test there in 14 since winning the 2004 series, anything less than winning all five Tests at home this summer against West Indies and South Africa could leave them vulnerable to missing the WTC final once more. 

With West Indies unbeaten in Test cricket in 2022 and South Africa sitting second on the WTC table after dropping their last two Tests in England in the middle of the year, neither opponent at home will be simple to handle. Australia is well aware of the chance that is available. Now they have to grab it with both hands. 

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