Cummins left with more questions than answers ahead of Newlands

Even Scott Boland's biggest fans would concede that Pat Cummins bringing up his batting as an example to follow is not an ideal reflection on the current state of Australia's top order.

"You saw today with Trav (Head) and Scotty – sometimes it's going to be about getting through the tough spells, sticking to your method," Cummins said after his side's innings-and-31-run defeat at St George's Park. "I think we went away from that on day four."

"Day four" was of course a reference their surrender for 99 that saw Australia's hold on the series blown away like debris in one of Gqeberha's violent gales.

Indeed, only Head and Matthew Renshaw have occupied the crease for longer innings than the second Test's twice-deployed nightwatcher Boland (who faced 166 balls in their second-innings bid to hold out for a draw) and Cummins (98 balls while digging his side out of their first-innings hole in Durban) across the Aussies' two Tests in South Africa so far.

Put another way: three of Australia's six best partnerships in this series have involved tail-enders.

As Cummins' men head to Cape Town for their first true series decider since 2022, they do so with their captain urging their faltering batting group to dig deeper than they have over the past 48 hours. 

Of their first sub-100 first-innings batting effort in a decade, Cummins conceded there were "a couple of loose shots" and that his batters "could have hung around and waited for the game to come to us a little bit more."

Of the suggestion that the effort was "gutless" – as made on radio station SEN by former Proteas quick Vernon Philander, one of the architects of Australia's previous first-innings low of 85 in Hobart in 2016 – Cummins was not completely dismissive: "It depends what that means, really."

In the same breath, he added that "you've got to find a way in Test cricket – it's not always going to be easy" before citing as an example the Head-Boland union that lasted 27 overs, only beaten by the Head-Marnus Labuschagne stand in terms of Australia's longest for the match.

Readily acknowledged by their leaders, Australia's Test batting struggles have now been prevalent in the first four of their 20-21-match run in a taxing 12-month span. So far, they have won as many games as they have lost, keeping their noses just in front of New Zealand and the Proteas on the current World Test Championship standings.

Against Bangladesh, they were ambushed for 198 and 284 in their shock defeat in Darwin, then were saved by their bowlers' brilliance when they won by an innings in Mackay despite managing only 210.

In the opening game of this current series, Matthew Renshaw's epic middle-order return at Kingsmead (scoring 190 and 82) overshadowed the fact Australia's next best score was Nic Maddinson's 48. Again their bowlers did the heavy lifting – on that occasion with both bat and ball, and on a far less pace-friendly surface. 

Giving away 20 wickets in less than five sessions to a South African attack down a frontline bowler due to Anrich Nortje’s injury only maintained the alarming slide.  

"Renshaw had an amazing game (in Durban) but I still think we weren't at our best, particularly in the batting," said Cummins.

"Looking around the changeroom at how good our batters are, and the standards they all hold themselves to, I think we were probably a little bit short of runs of where we'd like to be.

"We're still finding ways to win. We make it hard for ourselves sometimes. But we've got three or four days to get it right for Cape Town.

"There'll be lots of conversations. Probably run through a few scenarios that we'll probably get in Cape Town again and (ask) what would we do differently? The good thing is most of our team is pretty experienced.

"We've done it in the past, but we’re not seeing it as often as we'd like."

Not since they emerged triumphant over Pakistan in Lahore in 2022 have Australia been level with their opponents heading into a bilateral Test series decider. Newlands has hosted several consequential Australian Tests in recent decades, and this will be no exception. 

With Cummins declaring Steve Smith a certain starter following his second-Test neck complaint and flagging the likely returns of Cameron Green and Josh Inglis too, the blowtorch is firmly on the batters who have not shown the kind of application their skipper has asked for.

On the numbers alone, Maddinson (56 runs at 14 for the series) has been the least productive. He has reached double digits only during his second-innings blowout at Kingsmead.

It has been a sizeable ask for the 34-year-old to take on new-ball kings Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada in his first first-class appearances in 19 months. Renshaw's return to the opening spot he knows well, combined with Green's return to the middle-order, could make for a neat patch-up job.

Beau Webster (64 runs at 21.33) has fared little better. His bowling has been tidy – and necessary in Gqeberha after Josh Hazlewood's illness – but the allrounder nominally occupies the No.7 spot Inglis has batted in as recently as last summer's Ashes. Cooper Connolly is another alternative.

Cummins conceded it was a challenge to know when the right time was to pull the trigger on a change. "It's not a perfect science," he said. "It's always the challenge of, do you give someone one more game? Or do you feel like now is the right time to make a move?

"So that's what will be spoken about over the next few days. I think we will probably have Cam Green and Josh Inglis be available for next week – I'm sure their names will get thrown around when we try and work out an XI.

"But it's always that delicate balance. Do we feel like someone's just about to turn the corner and they're going to be away? Or does it now feel like the right time for a change-up?"

That leaves Labuschagne, whose 'shaky ground' status has become no less so after a third dismissal in the 30s for the tour and fourth from his eight innings. The pundits labelling his spot as untenable have little reason to change their tune.

But, when asked about the No.3, Cummins reference to the series as a whole – perhaps not dissimilar to when Labuschagne held his spot, as an opener, for last year's WTC final as a nod to his efforts in getting Australia there – indicated he might have done enough to hang on amid the dysfunction elsewhere.

"I think the hardest thing about opening or batting three is actually getting yourself in," Cummins said. "Ball's normally doing a fair bit. You've got fresh bowlers, and he's actually doing the hard bit.

"He's getting to 30s. I think he's got to find a way to turn those into bigger scores – 30s aren't going to win you too many matches. But it's certainly not a technique error. Maybe some decisions (where) the game demanded something a little bit different.

"We'll work on that over the next couple days. I think he's hitting the ball well.

"There's one Test match left in the series. We've got to win this, and then obviously there's a bit of a break before the summer … the next three days will be about how do we win next week?"

Qantas tour of South Africa 2026

All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket

First Test: Australia won by 214 runs

Second Test: October 18-22, St George's Park, Gqeberha, 7pm AEDT (10am local)

Third Test: October 27-31, Newlands, Cape Town, 7:30pm AEDT (10:30am local)

South Africa squad for second Test: Temba Bavuma (c), Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Matthew Breetzke, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne.

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Sam Harper, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (second Test onwards), Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nic Maddinson, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster