Defining moments are strange things. Some people call them ‘Sliding Doors’ moments. Those moments where the benefit of hindsight provides you with the two separate paths that lay before you.
Steve Waugh had such a moment back in 1999. In a test series that was surprisingly in the balance, Waugh made the decision to drop Shane Warne who was not long back from shoulder surgery and struggling. But off the back of being dumped, Warne went on to reignite his career and turn in some amazing performances with the ball as Australia came from nowhere to win the 1999 World Cup.
It was a decision that had real ramifications for Australian cricket. A tough decision that Waugh is now lauded for making but at the time was questioned. A similar decision now sits in front of Pat Cummins.
Love him or hate him, David Warner will go down as a great of Australian cricket and will be remembered for twenty-plus test hundreds. The look on Cameron White’s face all those years ago when Warner went ballistic in that T20 game at the MCG will become iconic with Warner’s arrival.
A brute of a cricketer at his best, in Australia where the bounce is true and he could trust his skills, he was at times unbeatable. The thing is though his time has come, and Cummins needs to show that he can see that.
Although there are far too many times in Australian cricket where this reality isn’t obvious, no one should be bigger than the game. At any level, let alone the highest, cricketers should be judged on their performances and nothing else. Once those decisions are made it is up to those within the group to make the team the best it can be.
David Warner. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
When you’re flying you should get selected. Good form should buy you some time to prove yourself but then poor form should eventually spend all the cache you have built up. No matter who you are, there has to be a moment when your time is up and you are pushed aside. A decision that really shouldn’t be up to the individual, It should be up to the leadership.
For David Warner, that time is now.
Like Waugh all those years ago, Cummins is away from home in a high-stakes series with his back against the wall. Yes, believe it or not, the Frank Worrell Trophy was once a high-stakes series. He needs to know that selection will be vital in his efforts to reinvigorate his team to challenge in a contest that isn’t over yet. Almost, but not yet. He needs to weigh up whether his superstar veteran can come good right now or whether his alternative is actually more likely to succeed.
Travis Head is a lot like Warner. Stands on the wrong side of the bat and likes to hit the ball hard. He is no technical masterpiece but has shown a liking for being in a fight. He’s not a natural opener in red-ball cricket, yet neither was Warner all those years ago.
However, the top of the order may well be the horse he was born to ride. Often opportunity is all people need to show the world what they are really capable of and that’s what Cummins could offer Head now. Open with Head in Delhi, let him attack Shami and Seraj when the ball is hard and get Australia away to a flyer, and try to put the three spinners under some pressure with such an approach.
Travis Head. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
This of course shouldn’t mean the end for Warner unless he wants it to be. Just as it didn’t mean the end for Warne. Although it did make him think about it. If Cummins makes the decision to close one door and open another it may just be the spark that the ageing Warner needs to find form with a bang.
It could motivate him to take on Broad in the Ashes and then tee it up in the World Cup.
One of the key parts of leadership is knowing when you must lead. Cummins is in charge of a team that has to come back from a thumping. Few people outside the walls of their changerooms are giving them any hope of coming back. A leader in these situations needs to be able to see the possible futures that lay before their team. They need to then be brave enough to put their team on a path of the best possible journey.
They need to make sure they walk through the right door.
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