Cummins: Aussies “thoroughly outplayed” as focus shifts to Cape Town

Pat Cummins admits his Australian side was “thoroughly outplayed” by South Africa in the second Test.

The Aussies lost by an innings and 31 runs after being forced to follow-in Gqeberha.

Cummins says the normal standards of Test cricket simply weren’t met by the tourists.

“Thoroughly outplayed. I don’t think we were anywhere near our best and weren’t near the standards we try to hold ourselves to,” Cummins told SEN Cricket’s Bharat Sundaresan.

“They’re No.2 in the world, we’re No.1 - so we’re playing a quality side. Sometimes the margins can be exaggerated against good sides.

“You can’t let those little moments go, and we did, particularly at the end of Day 3 and yesterday.

“Before you know it in the space of a few sessions you’re getting the follow-on, you’re straight back in and you lose by an innings.

“Not ideal and far from our best.”

After a dominant win in Durban and then a “true beatdown” in the old Port Elizabeth, there appears to have been a major momentum swing.

But Cummins doesn’t necessarily subscribe to the notion that momentum is key.

“I’m not a big one for momentum, really,” he replied.

“If you started the series at 1-1 that’s probably what everyone would have expected.

“We’ve done it before. Unfortunately we’ve found ourselves in these positions and had to dust ourselves off. We’ve shown that we’re pretty good at it.

“That’s what lies ahead for us the next few days.”

In his post mortem, Cummins admitted the batting temperament at times left a lot to be desired, aside from Scott Boland and Travis Head’s Day 5 intervention which gave the Aussies a fighting chance of a draw.

“You’ve got find a way to get some ugly runs sometimes. There were some pretty loose shots that in Test cricket against a high quality attack is not going to be sustainable,” Cummins added.

“You saw Scotty and Trav today and how fantastic they were. They weathered the storm last night (Day 4), and then you get yourself in and everything seems to make a bit more sense.

“We missed that opportunity in the first innings.”

Now the focus shifts to a potential turnaround in Cape Town.

The skipper says at least he and his bowling cohort are feeling good ahead of the Tuesday night AEDT beginning.

“The one positive is us bowlers are quite fresh. We haven’t bowled the last two days,” Cummins said.

“Hopefully that does mean something.

“Everyone is going to be on the table for selection.

“No doubt we’ll have a review of our own games and our different departments like we normally do.

“We’ve got a bit of work to do so hopefully a couple of good training sessions and good conversations and we’re ready to go.”