Bouncers won't stop soon: Cummins

Not even the sight of England fast bowler Stuart Broad hoicking sixes into the jubilant Barmy Army in Bay 12 of the Victor Trumper Stand off his own bowling tempted Australia quick Pat Cummins to fire a ball into the exposed woodwork.

For an entertaining, if not frustrating, 44 minutes in the morning session on day two at the SCG, Broad countered the customary barrage of bouncers that have become the norm this summer by swinging hard and freely to reach the boundary once, clear it on two occasions and finish with 31 from 32 balls. 

Australian fans amongst the 43,846 in attendance and many more on social media cried out for Cummins and the Aussie pacemen to ditch the short-pitched stuff and instead zero in on the stumps they thought could not be defended by Broad’s defence. 

But Cummins admitted after play the desire to put one on the pegs did not cross as his mind as he happily followed his captain’s orders and dug it in believing it was the best option to dismiss the pesky tailender. 

“Not really, to be honest,” Cummins said after play when asked if he felt like pitching the ball up when Broad was taking on each bouncer. 

“Every ball to Stuart you feel like you’re in the game. 

“He does hit a couple of them clean but it still feels like you’ve got enough catchers out there. 

“A couple of them only just missed our fielders. 

Cummins added: “Smithy (is) driving that. Us bowlers are all happy to follow along. 

“It’s a plan that’s worked all summer and again, they got a few runs but I still think we got a few wickets there are the end and the pitch was pretty flat and the ball was starting to get a bit soft. 

“So, it didn’t feel like we were going to get too many genuine nicks.”

While it might have been deemed to be close to insanity by certain inhabitants of social media – repeating the same action and expecting different results – Cummins has a very good point.

Throughout the Magellan Ashes, England’s tail has not been able to withstand the onslaught of short-pitched bowling by Australia’s speedsters.

Test great Ricky Ponting put it bluntly during the Perth Test: “Frankly, our quicks are just too good for their tailenders.”

Cummins said only when the lower-order batsmen look as though they’re comfortable against his quick comrade’s bouncers would they look to alter their strategy.

And if Broad was seen to be not handling it well today despite crunching two sixes, it appears it would take a lot for Smith and Australia’s pace battery to change their minds. 

“I think you’ve got different plans to each batsman,” Cummins said. 

“We’re lucky over here, the wickets have been a little bit quicker. 

“In Melbourne, it wasn’t as quick so we didn’t feel we could use it as much. 

“We’ve got Moeen Ali a couple of times with the short ball and the tail, just about all of them have got out (to the short ball) at some stage. 

“For us that’s our Plan A, it’s the way we think we’re going to get them out for the cheapest amount of runs and quicker than any other tactic. 

“A lot of the time when they’re batting the pitch is starting to get tired, we’re probably a little bit tired and the ball’s been soft a couple of the times where it doesn’t feel like it’s got that zip to snick them off. 

“Once they show they’re really playing it well and keenly and doesn’t look like it’s going to be an option to get them out we would move to a different tactic but it’s been working so far.”

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test Australia won by an innings and 41 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test Match drawn. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Scorecard

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21