NEW DELHI: Former Australia batter Mike Hussey believes that the Pat Cummins-led Test team ranks among the best sporting teams in the country. Regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a 3-1 victory over India after a decade has placed Australia in possession of every bilateral series win, along with the 2023 World Test Championship mace.
“I think they have got to be right up there, because they’ve won pretty much everything. They’ve won the Ashes. They’ve won World Cups. I know Test cricket is different to white-ball cricket, but in Pat Cummins’ reign, this is the one they didn’t have, beating India.
“They’ve been able to keep this core group together for a long, long, long period of time. We’ve highlighted the bowling group and the amount of wickets they’ve got together. It’s been incredible.
“Only history will judge it, I guess. I’m not very good at judging different eras, because it’s hard to do, but I think they’re going to be right up there for sure,” said Hussey to Fox Sports on Monday.
Cummins was handed Australia’s Test captaincy ahead of the 2021/22 Ashes after Tim Paine stepped down due to an off-field issue. Since then, he has led the side to significant victories in bilateral Test series, along with an ODI World Cup triumph in India in 2023.
As Australia’s Test skipper, Cummins has taken 130 Test wickets at an average of 23.50 and won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, awarded to the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year, in 2023.
Former Australia spinner Kerry O’Keeffe praised Cummins’ leadership, particularly given the frequent remarks about the team’s age. “It means a lot because this is a side that, if they do lose, the age of the team will be questioned. The legacy is that age is just a number and we keep winning.
“They are an aging team, but they’ll say age is just a number if they keep winning series and big, big Tests. If you look at last year, there were chances where they could have not won. Even in New Zealand, they were lucky to get over the line. And Pakistan, if they hadn’t muffed their chances, could easily have won. The legacy of this side is that they are an old team, but they’re a very good team,” he said.
