Brisbane, Dec 13 Ahead of the Brisbane Test, Australia skipper Pat Cummins said he is confident of a big score being just around the corner for premier batter Steve Smith, who hasn’t been able to make a significant impact in the series against India so far.
Smith has averaged just 23.20 in his seven Tests this year, with his lone half-century coming against the West Indies in Brisbane in January. After moving back to his favoured number four position, Smith hasn’t found success against India, amassing scores of 0, 17 and 2 so far.
“You look at his record, stats would suggest (runs) are not far around the corner. In particular this year, he’s looking fantastic in the nets, just looking really sharp, looking like he’s got plenty of time. doing all the right things like he always does. He got caught down the leg side last game. I don’t know if you can look into that too much, so I’m sure a big score’s just around the corner,” said Cummins to reporters on the eve of the third Test.
With the Test series locked at 1-1, the upcoming Test at the Gabba will be of great importance for both teams to get themselves ahead in the race of winning the series and grabbing crucial World Test Championship points.
“There’s definitely pride in winning in Australia. These are our home conditions. These are the conditions we grew up playing with. The hardest thing in cricket nowadays is winning Test series away from home.
“So to make that World Test Championship, you’ve got to win everything at home and try and pick up some wins overseas where you can. We definitely go into every home series here expecting to win. That’s what we grew up watching. That’s the standard we’ve set ourselves,” added Cummins.
Talking about playing in Brisbane after India and West Indies humbled them in 2021 and 2024 respectively, Cummins stated, "I looked at it yesterday – it looked like a good wicket, like it has been the last few years. A bit of sun baking it the last couple of days (means) I don't think it's as green and leafy as it was against South Africa (where the Test ended in two days in 2022).
"It's just a venue really. We play at dozens and dozens of venues each year. It's always good coming back to a place that's familiar... but the scoreboard starts at 0-0, so the venue isn't the be-all and end-all."
Cummins signed off by saying he will stick to his bouncers plan against bowling to lower-order Indian batters, something that fetched him a five-wicket haul in Adelaide.
“It is always in the back of your mind as a bit of a plan B or, if its looking really uncomfortable and likely to take wickets, it becomes a plan A to some of the batters. It worked in Adelaide, so I’m sure we’ll give it a shot at some stage. For the tailenders it looked like a wicket was very likely," said the Aussie skipper.
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