Following the final loss of WTC, Pat Cummins indicated on the batting overhaul. Cricket news
Australia’s cricket team is considering a change in its batting lineup after the loss of five wickets in South Africa in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s on 15 June 2025. Captain Pat Cummins has called for “reset” as the team prepares for three tests and a home Ashes series in the West Indies, with special attention to addressing his struggling top order since the retirement of David Warner 17 months ago.The new batting system proved to be unsuccessful in the final, managing a joint clan of only 49 runs with the top three batsmen. Since the departure of Warner, Usman Khwaja’s fifth early partner, promoted Maarnas Labschen, struggled at number three with Cameron Green.
Khwaja, now 38, continued his poor form against pace bowling, scoring only zero and six in his two innings. Green’s performance was equally disappointing, only four runs in the first innings and one duck in the second.The team’s batting weaknesses were clear in the second innings, only Michel Starc’s unbeaten fifty and Alex Kerry’s 43, which made South Africa’s chase more challenging.Quiz: Who is that IPL player?Cummins told reporters, “Perhaps there are many people in line-ups who want them to do a little more.” “The top three in this game were clear.”The situation is complicated by Steve Smith’s finger chaos, making him suspicious for the first West Indies Test. This teenager can open the door to Sam Constas, who had previously played two Tests against India, to return with Khwaja.The team faces several options, which includes a potentially retaining labschen at number three, despite a low test average of 25.63 in the 2024/25 season. Josh England, who was in the WTC team, is another possibility as a opener.
Cummins said, “We have met a few weeks before the first test in Wandi, so we will sit and think after digesting this game.” “But for me, I think in some ways a new WTC cycle feels like a little reset. It is probably more for the selectors and for me to sit down and push it forward.”The first test of the three -match West Indies series begins in Barbados on 25 June, marking the start of the 2027 WTC cycle. The team faced England in a five-observer Ashes series in Perth on 20 November.“Coming to this match, you have found people like Sam Constas and Scooty Bolland and Josh Englandis, all were right on the fringe,” Cummins said. “So I think again, after this Test match, everyone returns to the conversation.”The Australian media has emphasized the need for change, with the Australian newspaper described the necklace next to the Ashes series as a “wake-up call”, given that the selectors would have to make decisive calls about the team’s future.
