Pat Cummins Doubtful for Melbourne Test After Remarkable Ashes Win

After winning the Adelaide test against England by a big margin of 82 runs, Pat Cummins is unlikely to play the Melbourne test. His appearance after that is also doubtful, as the Australian test captain is weighing on fitness management after sealing the Ashes at Adelaide.

Pat Cummins came into the Adelaide match after recovering from injury, so managing fitness wisely was always on the back of his mind. He is not looking to feature in back-to-back tests, as that could once again increase the risk to his fitness.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Cummins said he was proud of the effort shown by the team throughout the test match. He also revealed how the team prepared smartly for the series, knowing its overall importance.

"I'm feeling really good, [but] as for the rest of the series, we'll wait and see. We had a pretty aggressive build-up knowing that it's the Ashes there to be won, and we thought that was worth it. Now that the series has been won, there might be a sense of job's done and let's reassess the risk,” said Pat Cummins while speaking to the reporters.

He then expressed uncertainty about his participation in the next test. Cummins said he will sit down with the team management to discuss the rest of the series, as the primary objective of retaining the Ashes has now been successfully achieved.

"We'll work it out over the next couple of days. I doubt I'll be playing Melbourne, and then we'll have a chat about Sydney. But certainly before the series it was, while the series was live, let's take on the risk and have a crack at it, now it's done, I think we'll need to have a chat about it," said Australian test captain, Pat Cummins.

Talking about the feeling of winning the Adelaide Test and retaining the Ashes, Cummins admitted it was a wonderful achievement that the team had been planning for a long time. He added that winning back-to-back Tests was certainly not easy, but the team worked hard over the past few days to make it possible.

"It feels pretty awesome. Yeah, amazing. It's a series we've been thinking about for a long time. It wasn't easy today, but we got it done. It's a pretty excited changing room in there," said Pat Cummins.

The Australian captain then applauded his team, saying that they were at their best during the last three matches. He added that playing in Australia requires embracing the grind, as scoring runs freely here is not easy.

"I think that's when we're at our best, this cricket team. You can't really rush things here in Australia. I think you kind of will it to happen, but it doesn't really work that way. It's good old-fashioned grind a lot of the time. I loved the toil from all the guys today. It got a little bit closer than I would have liked, but I'm pretty happy," said Pat Cummins.

Praising Australia’s Ability to Handle Challenges

He then praised the team’s ability to take on challenges in the wake of losing players like Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon during the Adelaide Test. He added that the team did not waver from its plan despite these setbacks, as they had the belief to achieve success by backing their skills.

"I think that's one of the things I'm most proud about in this group. Nothing ever really happens perfectly; there's always something that gets thrown up. Over the last few years, this groups have shown [it can] just crack on. Even I missed the first couple of games, Steve stepped right in, and it was smooth and seamless. There's always things that crop up; Nathan Lyon doing his hammy with a couple of hours left today,” said Pat Cummins.

"The boys just go, okay, that's happened. Let's crack on. What's next? I think that's one of the big reasons why we've had our success over the last couple of years," added Pat Cummins.

He then shed some light on his preparation for the series, saying it took a lot of hard work to regain his fitness and perform again for Australia in the series.

"The last two months have been a bit of a grind. [I gave] myself every chance, but it's all worth it when you get days like this, packed crowd and retaining the Ashes," concluded Pat Cummins.