Loading
โIt feels like it makes sense for now, [but] that might change. [Head] will do this week, each game you have a look at what the next week needs, but, with the current line-up, weโve got plenty of flexibility in the squad.โ
Head, who had previously indicated he was willing to open the batting in Australia if the team required, switched his rhetoric to a more adamant push for the spot when Khawajaโs back trouble created an opportunity in Perth.
โI think what you say publicly is always a bit different to what you say privately,โ Cummins said. โIf someone is nominating a spot, it means someone else is missing out. Travโs a great team man and vice captain so he never wants to tread on any toes.
โHeโs always very adamant heโll do whatever the team needs and for the last few years we think itโs [batting at] No.5, and heโs happily done that. Heโs always thrown it up there โ weโve gone through a few openers over the last couple of years, and heโs said, โIf you need me, Iโm happy to do itโ.
โBut I think when he was running off at Perth Stadium, and he was demanding, he goes, โI think itโs my time, I think itโs meโ, and we were like, โGo for itโ โ that was probably the first time it was OK, he really wants it and thinks this is his opportunity.โ
At the same time, Cummins made it clear that there may still be a path back into the team for Khawaja, should circumstances change.
โThe selectors have been quite adamant weโre picking a side each week, [and it] doesnโt necessarily mean itโs got to be exactly the same team as the previous week,โ Cummins said. โWe do that with the bowlers.
โThis week Nathan Lyonโs coming back in. One of Uzzyโs great strengths is heโs scored runs at the top and scored runs in the middle. Heโs in the squad, if we didnโt think heโd be good enough to come straight in he wouldnโt be here in the squad. So absolutely I can see a path back at some point, if needed.โ
Loading
Lyon and Cummins will return to the bowling attack in place of Brendan Doggett and Michael Neser. Cumminsโ recall will be for his first game of cricket since the West Indies tour in July, where he first felt discomfort that turned out to be a back stress injury.
โ[Iโm] good to go. Iโve been bowling 100 per cent for a while,โ Cummins said. โIf I played in Brisbane I wouldโve probably been on limited overs, but this week itโs just go and play like any other Test match.โ
Having watched the first two Tests from the sidelines, Cummins expressed confidence that the Australian attack would be able to continue tempting Englandโs Bazballers into errors outside the off stump.
โThatโs what your hope is โ that players come over here, and you can nick them off like we have been,โ he said. โ[I] donโt know if itโs really surprising.
โLike any series youโve got to adapt, and Iโm sure theyโll come out with some different plans and methods for this game, and weโll try to adapt to that as well but itโ been pretty good to watch so far.โ
The third Test starts at Adelaide Oval at 10.30am AEDT Wednesday.
