At around 2.30 pm on Friday (July 21), Pat Cummins shrugged his shoulders for the first time on tour. Around three hours later, Steve Smith did the same. And so did the rest of Australia.
It's been an interesting Ashes series for Australia's captain and vice-captain so far. They've both had a couple of personal highs. Smith got the century at Lord's. Cummins starred with his 6/91 in the first innings at Leeds after having seen his team home in the narrow run-chase at Edgbaston.
But those performances have come amid a bunch of middling returns for the two most important players in the Australian camp. Four years ago, the Aussies had retained the Ashes and not lost their first series in England since 2001 on the back of Cummins and Smith having the kind of tour that you could write a book on.
The premier fast bowler had averaged 19 for his 29 wickets with the ball while Smith scored his 774 runs at 110.57. In comparison, based purely on numbers, neither has come even close to having a similar impact this time around. Smith now averages 31 in 8 innings, having failed to get to a half-century in seven of those innings. Cummins, meanwhile, has taken 16 wickets at 33 apiece, his highest ever in a series, outside the subcontinent, ever. Not to forget an economy rate of over 4.11.
But he'd never visibly let it get to him except in the two overs during the middle session when a fired-up Jonny Bairstow decided to take him down. And it was the monster six over deep mid-wicket that led to Cummins's shoulders dropping probably for the first time since he took over as captain 18 months ago. He'd been hit for a six already in the over and he would concede a few more boundaries to Bairstow before it was all over. An over earlier, James Anderson had walked at Cummins and pulled him off the front-foot for four. But there was something about the clunk off Bairstow's bat as the ball sailed over the western stands before bouncing back that seemed to hurt that much more. This was after all more than just one of Australia's best-ever fast bowlers being dominated. This was an assault.
