The world at Pat’s feet!

Australia won an impressive sixth World Cup thanks to dynamic fielding batting and bowling heroics and enormous selfbelief However the captaincy of Pat Cummins should not be overlooked in assessing Australiarsquos excellent achievementCummins was always going to be a good captain Overlooking for a moment the difficulties of being a fastbowling skipper Cummins was easily the most inspirational player on the Australian team and hersquos blessed with cricketing common senseTroubles the bestAny cricketer who isnrsquot inspired by Cummins is in the wrong game In addition Cummins is an outstanding fast bowler with a big heart and has the muchadmired knack of taking a wicket when itrsquos really needed To cap it off hersquos a bowler who regularly troubles the oppositionrsquos best batsmenAlso ReadWI legend Brian Lara lauds Kohli for his commitment and dedicationThese qualities make him amply qualified to be an inspiring captain The rest is a matter of him captaining the Australian side and seeing what he can make of the job The only way to improve as a captain is to do the job make the odd miscalculation and quickly learn from any setbacksCummins has not only proved himself a worthy Test captain his leadership has now expanded to where hersquos also a successful 50over skipper I thought hersquod be a good captain but hersquos exceeded my expectationsThe other point to consider is the quality of some of the rarely selected bowling captains The best examples of bowlers making good to great captains are Imran Khan of Pakistan Richie Benaud of Australia and Ray Illingworth of EnglandIn Imranrsquos bracketBy performing well as a captain in different countries and formats and in a variety of conditions Cummins is putting himself in that category Only Imran of that triomdashan excellent leader of great presencemdashplayed in an era of rapidly increasing limited overs matchesAlso ReadBatsmen with most runs in a calendar yearImran crowned an excellent captaincy career by guiding Pakistanrsquos ldquoskilled rabblerdquo cricket team to an outstanding World Cup win in 1992 Cummins has now equalled Imran and Kapil Devrsquos laudable achievements of clinching a World Cup trophy as a fast bowling skipperDonrsquot be fooled by the controversy surrounding coach Justin Langer and his eventual departure Once appointed Cummins had earned the right to choose the coach he wanted Cummins now works with coach Andrew McDonald but be in no doubt who is running the cricket side of thingsmdashitrsquos as it should be the captainWhilst I can guarantee from personal experience that a lot of codswallop is written and spoken about what happens on the cricket field it is refreshing to watch Cummins and his team in action Cumminsrsquos side is often spoken about as an ultraaggressive Australian unit minus the ugly side effectsIrsquod put Cummins in the same bracket as Mark Waugh and Anil Kumblemdashfierce competitors who convey their intentions purely by their actions Shooting your mouth off doesnrsquot make you a tough playermdashquite often itrsquos exactly the oppositeCummins also deserves credit for speaking out on offfield issues Itrsquos not easy in the dogeatdog social media climate for a current player to take a stand but Cummins has had the guts to be front and centre on an issue he is passionate aboutIn acknowledging an invitation from Cummins to a ldquoclimate effect on cricketrdquo symposium Irsquom not only declaring my involvement but also expressing an admiration for the captainrsquos stand Cummins is absolutely serious about climatersquos effect on the planetSkirmish with StokesTherersquos no doubt Cummins has had his challenges as captain His battle with Ben Stokesmdashan excellent captainmdashwas one such instance Cumminsrsquos captaincy experience will be improved by having an intense skirmish with StokesSomeone once wisely wrote ldquoGood captaincy is like pornography itrsquos hard to define but you know it when you see itrdquoCummins was the right choice as Australian captain and hersquos done an extremely good jobEven in the ultrademanding climate of Australian cricket Cummins has earned the right to remain captain for as long as he wants the role