Pat Cummins hints at overhaul after WTC defeat

Australia captain Pat Cummins has indicated major changes in the team after the unsuccessful defence of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) against South Africa at Lord’s on Saturday.

Chasing 282 to win the 2025 final against Australia at Lord’s, South Africa broke their trophy jinx with a resounding five-wicket victory in the final on day four.

Aiden Markram starred with a magnificent fourth-innings hundred, taking his team home to a historic victory.

Following the defeat, questions arose regarding Australia’s top three, comprising Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, and makeshift opener Marnus Labuschagne. The trio contributed only 49 of Australia’s 419 runs, just over 10 per cent.

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After the defeat, Pat Cummins highlighted the performances, asserting that there needs to be more effort from some players.

“There’s probably quite a few people in the line-up that wish they could have done a little bit more,” Cummins told reporters. “The top three was an obvious one in this game.”

Ahead of the three-match series against West Indies, Pat Cummins said that the WTC cycle feels like a bit of a reset.

“I don’t particularly know why, but it does feel like a little bit of a fresh start,” he said.

“You fast forward, you know, a couple of years (and) you start maybe thinking about who’s going to – and hopefully we make the final – but who’s going to be in that team and maybe do we want to get some games into them? Do we feel like now’s the right time to change? Or do we hold with the team that got us to the final?

“I think we’ll kind of got a couple of weeks before the first Test in the Windies, so I think we’ll sit down and have a bit of a think after we digest this game. But for me, I think a new WTC cycle in some ways, does feel like a bit of a reset,” Pat Cummins concluded.

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