Cummins' Captaincy

[Line and Length]

I have been somewhat disappointed with Cummins as a captain. Opting not to bowl a single delivery in India's 2nd innings shows a lack of faith in his own ability. This was also evident when India's tail was wagging in the 1st dig. True, it was a spinners' wicket but sometimes a little variety is required. That variety could also come in the form of Labu or Smith but neither was given a spell.
When fielding at long-on when a rookie spinner is bowling he hardly gives himself the opportunity to offer advice.
We also had some poor DRS referrals - generally based on Carey's enthusiasm rather than on reality. It's the captain's job to get these reviews used better.
His batting in our second dig has been described by one journalist as "the worst shot ever played by an Australian captain." Big call, but it certainly wasn't a responsible approach.
I may be a bit harsh on a man who led us to two series victories at home this summer bit the opposition was hardly on top of their game.
What do members think?

 

[Spark]

Fast bowling captains are just a bad idea in general. It's just too much on his plate to be handling all the off-field captain's duties, working on his craft as a bowler, improving his batting (which is important, and really does need to get back to what it seemed like it could be in 2017-18), as well as doing all the fielding changes, bowling changes, bowling himself and managing the team's morale on-field.

It's just way too much to put on one guy. And I think they know it, because you can see a lot of the on-field visibly off-loaded onto Smith, which is unwise for all sorts of reasons. I'm pretty sure Smith was actually running the ship for a lot of that game in the field; not least because he was actually fielding in a position where he could. Some of the tactics felt very Steve Smith too.

Cummins as captain has been more success than failure and his off-field stuff has been a breath of fresh air as far as I'm concerned, but fast bowling captains aren't a thing for a good reason.

 

[CricAddict]

Yes, Cummins has been so bad in his captaincy this series. Just the mistakes in the second test as below.

1. Going in to the second test with just 1 pacer was a mistake
2. The Axar innings changed the match. Australia could have easily won if they could have taken him out early. And I believe they could have done it with pacers bowling on both ends
3. Kunman was easily the worst of the 4 bowlers but just when some sort of pressure was required on the Indian batsmen, he was called on to bowl just easing out all of the pressure
4. Opening with Kunman in the second innings was a huge mistake
5. Whose idea was it to sweep your way to victory? Terrible to do that against Jadeja especially who bowls faster and at the stumps and with ball keeping low
6. That shot from Cummins should be one of the worst shots by a captain in tests ever
7. Not bowling himself till fag end of Axar-Ashwin innings
8. Not bowling him at all in the second innings
9. Exhausting all 3 reviews so quickly in their first innings

 

[Spark]

I really miss Clarke as on-field captain. Yeah the man had his faults as a leader of men but he was so much more active in reading the game, identifying on-field developments and responding to them in interesting and novel ways that challenged the batsmen than Smith or Cummins (and Smith).

We wouldn't have anything like the issues we've had with India's lower order with Clarke at the helm IMO.

 

[the big bambino]

Apparently he’s leaving the tour for family reasons.

 

[CricAddict]

Apparently he’s leaving the tour for family reasons.

Yes, he has flown to Australia now along with Swepson but both of them will be back before the start of the third test. They have got a 10 day break and Cummins is utilizing that to be with his family who are down with illness.

 

[Burgey]

Certainly hope all is well with his family. Sounds pretty rough tstl

 

[Spark]

It would certainly clarify a lot of what happened yesterday if he was suddenly and understandably distracted by matters far more important than a game of cricket.

 

[Xix2565]

I do think it's hard to be a good captain when your team is so outmatched and also handicapping itself at times.

 

[Burgey]

Yeah it is but it's also the swings and roundabouts of cricket. Captaincy at every level is easy when it's 4/50 and there will be 10 other blokes out there with a zillion suggestions as to what should happen next. It gets a lot lonelier and quieter when it's 3/ 350 though.

 

[Line and Length]

I agree with @Spark 's comments regarding fast bowlers as captains. Unless they are a proficient close in fielder or slipper who can be in the thick of the action (physical and verbal) then they are often too far away to communicate effectively.
I hope all is well with Cummins' and Swepson's families.
Take Warner with you when you go.

 

[Socerer 01]

did Cummins not bowl because of said personal reasons?