In recent weeks Pat Cummins has enjoyed a lot of attention. Most of it was for the great work he did on the field during the Ashes series.
He was elevated to the position of Australian Test captain after Tim Paine decided to step down as the captain ahead of the series. Paine was accused of sexual harassment by a female colleague.
The former captain decided to step down so that his actions from 2018 wouldn’t reflect badly on the team.
This scenario was very much similar to the Sandpaper Scandal. The Australian team was gaping at a big series with no captain to lead them.
That is when the CA called for a meeting and decided to bestow the responsibility of captaincy on the able shoulders of Pat Cummins. He was the best candidate they had, considering that Smith and Warner were out of contention for the same.
Hence began what can be said as a new era of domination down under. Australia didn’t defeat England. Rather they thrashed them in a 4-0 series victory. The hosts outdid their opponents in every aspect of the game to win the historical series.
As a result of this series, Cummins became the centre of attraction. He was seen as a leader on the field. The manner in which he went about his business during the series was commendable.
Mitchell Johnson accuses Cummins of being unsupportive
All of these outstanding achievements and yet Mitchell Johnson, in his column for West Australia, called Cummins “gutless.”
This comes after Justin Langer resigned from the position of head coach of the Australian Cricket team yesterday. Langer has had his ups and downs during this short tenure. But recently, Australia was soaring on the highest levels of cricket.
They are the number 1 ranked test team at the moment. The reigning T20 World Champions retained the Ashes down under in a dominating fashion.
However, recently the players were upset with him for being too hard on them. He was quoted as someone who made players feel like walking on eggshells. This constant tussle between the coach and player resulted in Langer’s stepping down.
Johnson didn’t appreciate the behaviour from either the players or the board. And being vocal about the same, he wrote, “Pat Cummins might have delivered with the ball during the Ashes series, but he has failed his first big test as captain pretty miserably.
“He had plenty of public opportunities to endorse an extension for Langer. So when he let it through to the keeper every time, it became pretty obvious he didn’t want it to happen.”
Johnson also went on to accuse Cummins of being central to whatever is going on in the dressing room. “He’s clearly had an agenda to get in a coach he wants,” Johnson said.
These are some serious accusations coming from someone who was once a brother in arms with Cummins. Johnson and Cummins have represented Australia together at one stage.
Although Johnson is not the only one who thinks Langer was mistreated. Earlier, former captain Ricky Ponting and coach Micky Arthur also came in support of Langer.
While Arthur called it “disgraceful treatment,” Ponting found the manner in which CA handled Tim Paine’s and Langer’s case as “embarrassing.”
