Australia coach McDonald dismisses ‘far-fetched’ Cummins resignation speak

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald dismissed prospects of Pat Cummins stepping down as check captain after the continued Ashes sequence following the crew’s struggles in opposition to England within the drawn fourth check at Old Trafford.

Cummins endured his most tough second since taking on the management position in October as England pressed for a series-levelling victory solely to be foiled by inclement climate as Australia retained the Ashes urn.

Cummins, each as Australia’s chief and tempo spearhead, struggled as Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow steered England previous 500, whereas the short-pitched bowling ploy he employed got here a cropper in opposition to England’s aggressive ‘Bazball’ method.

SCORECARD | ENGLAND vs AUSTRALIA 4TH TEST

Former Victoria captain Darren Berry criticised Australia’s method and predicted Cummins, who bled 5.6 an over within the match, would step down after the ultimate check at The Oval starting on Thursday.

McDonald termed Berry’s feedback “most interesting”.

“What I would say is leadership takes on all different shapes and forms and we’re living and dying in the world of tactics only,” the coach instructed reporters.

“I think it’s fair and reasonable to critique some of the execution and tactics that we implemented but to go as far as suggesting that the captain resigns post-series, I think it would be far-fetched.

“There’s opinions that we respect and there’s opinions that we don’t.”

Asked if he thought Cummins had develop into a comfortable goal, McDonald mentioned, “We’re all working on the Australian cricket team together. It should never really come down to Pat as an individual but unfortunately, as a captain, sometimes you wear that.”

Cummins, who has performed all 4 matches of the sequence, has denied the burden of captaincy affected his personal efficiency with the ball.

“I don’t think (that was an issue),” Cummins mentioned after the draw.

“It was just execution, I let through more boundaries than I normally do. Probably just one or two bad balls an over.”

One factor he was certain about was that Australia, who didn’t play a specialist spinner at Old Trafford, must overview their technique heading into the ultimate check.

“You definitely look at what you can try and do differently for next time. That will be part of this week for sure,” Cummins mentioned.