Life. Death. Taxes. Australia winning the ICC event finals.
Three still hold. The fourth? Not so much. At Lord’s, South Africa chased down 282, and in doing so, chased away the idea that Australia are unbeatable in big games.
Five wickets. A World Test Championship final. And the Proteas now have an ICC trophy for the first time since 1998, back when Pat Cummins was five and Australia still had Channel Nine’s weird graphics.
It wasn’t a one-sided flogging. This was a genuine scrap. Both teams had their sessions. But this is Test cricket. It’s not about how many sessions you win. It’s about the ones you don’t lose. And Australia lost the ones that mattered.
For Cummins and co, it’s a loss. But more than that, it’s a wake-up call.
The batting reshuffle that isn’t working
You know that thing where you can see the train coming? But instead of moving, you just sit there and think, “Maybe it’ll stop”? That’s Australia’s top order right now.
David Warner retired, finally. The selectors said they’d pick the six best batters. What they meant was: let’s just swap guys around until something works. Turns out, that’s not a plan.
Usman Khawaja has been out of form for a while. He’ll be 39 when the next Ashes hits its halfway point. His feet aren’t moving, and neither is the scoreboard.
Marnus Labuschagne isn’t old, but he’s batting like an engineering student, cautious, nervous, and praying he gets through the day without questions.
And Steve Smith? He’s still holding the middle order together like duct tape on an ageing surfboard. But how long can one man carry a whole era?
The deeper worry? This team still leans on Mitchell Starc, Joshn Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, and Smith the way they did five years ago. The day they all go, and they will, Cummins could be the new Ricky Ponting. Left to pick up the pieces after the empire collapses.
Aiden Markram celebrates reaching his century in the World Test Championship final. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Time for a change (without burning it all down)
This isn’t a domino effect. You don’t drop legends after one bad game. But you also don’t wait for the entire house to burn before you install a fire alarm.
It’s time to move. Khawaja and Labuschagne haven’t been working. The West Indies series is the perfect window to try something different, not because the Windies are a pushover (they’re not), but because the Ashes looms and Australia needs openers who can do more than survive.
Sam Konstas has the technique and temperament, and the fun. Josh Inglis isn’t just a white-ball guy. Both can bring energy. Attacking intent. And maybe even some runs. Let’s find out now, not during the Ashes.
And if it works, you’ve freed up Travis Head, Alex Carey and Smith and the middle to bat like they mean it, not like they’re trying to fix damage done by the top three.
The bowling quartet we love and need to protect
Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood, Lyon. The big four. A fast-bowling trio plus one GOAT offie. Probably the best collective since the West Indies ran four quicks like a boy band in the 1980s.
But there’s a problem. Same names. Same styles. Same match-ups. Every team knows what’s coming. And it’s starting to show.
In the second innings at Lord’s, the pitch flattened. Lyon should’ve bossed that. Instead? No real threat. Maybe just a bad day. Or maybe it’s the beginning of something more permanent. The Aussies don’t have a second off-spinner even remotely close to ready.
Hazlewood is trickier. When he plays, he’s elite. McGrath-lite. But he hasn’t played much – 17 Tests in three years. And one wicket at Lord’s doesn’t scream “automatic selection.”
Temba Bavuma lifts the ICC World Test Championship mace with teammates at Lord’s. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
With Scott Boland waiting, there’s no shortage of steady options. But Hazlewood needs games, not nostalgia.
Starc is … well, Starc. Ageing, yes. Still terrifying in big matches? Also yes. But he’s 35, and bowling 140 clicks forever isn’t how bodies work. Australia need to start managing him properly, and Spencer Johnson, if given chances, could be part of that solution.
As for Cummins, he’s still doing Pat Cummins things. But he’s also doing captain things. And that’s a different job. Rotating bowlers, managing egos, bridging generations. This next phase? It’s the hard part.
The captain’s real challenge starts now
So what’s next for Cummins? Transition. It’s a dirty word in elite sport. You can’t drop everyone. But you also can’t hold on too long. The trick is knowing when to trust experience and when to risk change.
Look at the numbers: nine of the eleven players in this WTC Final also played the 2023 final against India. Two years, same team. That’s loyalty. Maybe too much of it.
Right now, Cummins is at the top of his game. But captaincy is more than bowling tight lines and taking five-fors. His real legacy will be how he steers this team from the tail end of one era into the start of another, without a collapse in between.
This might not be the greatest Australian XI of all time, but it’s good enough to be the best in the world right now. South Africa took the mace. But Australia aren’t going anywhere as long as they don’t get stuck in yesterday.
And let’s be honest, the real test for Cummins won’t be Season 4 of the Amazon Prime documentary. It’ll be these next few years. The calls he makes. The players he backs. The future he builds.
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