Former skipper praises Cummins' courage

2 years ago 352

Former Australian skipper Mark Taylor praised the courageousness of returning skipper Pat Cummins successful electing to nonstop England successful to bat aft winning the flip connected Boxing Day.

"That was a brave determination — a batch of Australian captains, maine included, person ever wanted to enactment runs connected the committee but helium knows England's bats are a worry, and helium backed his bowlers," Taylor told Wide World of Sports.

"There's not galore positives for England, I don't deliberation — it's astonishing erstwhile the game's not going your way, it's truly not going your way.

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"They would person liked to vessel contiguous arsenic Joe Root said astatine the toss, and it's ever the tosses you truly request to triumph that you don't."

Instead, a ruthless Australia sent them successful and tactically outclassed them passim the day. Taylor noted that the dismissal of Ben Stokes came arsenic a effect of a semipermanent crippled plan.

"Stokes' dismissal was brought astir by bully unit from Nathan Lyon and Cameron Green," helium said.

"They stopped them scoring for 10 to 15 minutes and then, I think, Ben Stokes had successful his caput 'the adjacent abbreviated one's going implicit the slips' but it wasn't the close shot for that shot.

"Too overmuch of his batting successful this bid is premeditated, whether it's walking down the transportation oregon crossed his stumps, oregon that shot today.

"And situation I say, it's indicative of England — excessively overmuch of their cricket is pre-planned and they're getting outplayed, that's the bottommost line."

Boxing Day Test begins

Stokes was 1 of conscionable 4 English bats to marque 20 oregon more, with skipper Joe Root apical scoring with 50 — earlier erstwhile again failing to spell connected with the job.

Root had looked utterly unfazed done his half-century, until instantly succumbing aft reaching that milestone. It's present the ninth clip Root has made 50 successful Australia, and helium is inactive yet to scope a three-figure score.

"It's not conscionable mental, it's besides the Australian onslaught who are keeping the unit on," Taylor said.

"There's been excessively galore times successful caller Test past wherever a subordinate gets to 40 oregon 50, and the adjacent 50 oregon 60 runs travel acold excessively easily.

"Test cricket shouldn't beryllium similar that, you should person to play good for a agelong play of time, and I deliberation that's wherever the Australian onslaught is antithetic close now."

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Of course, thoughts indispensable linger successful the backmost of Root's caput that he's playing a lone manus successful a precise disappointing team.

"He'll accidental that's not the case, but it surely is to an extent. He's the lone one, astatine the moment, who's out-and-out satellite class," Taylor said.

"There's immoderate decent players successful there, but the remainder of their apical six each mean successful the mid 30s astatine best. David Warner averages 48, Steve Smith 61 and Marnus Labuschagne 62.

"That's a antithetic people of subordinate astatine the moment."

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