The man of the match award for the first Test between Australia and England was handed to Stuart Broad on Tuesday night’s day-night Ashes showdown. Pat Cummins, a member of Australia’s pace attack, felt that he would have been more deserving had it not been given to an English bowler after taking only one wicket in his four deliveries at Edgbaston.
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Captain Pat Cummins says Australia was “surprised” when England left spinner Stuart Broad out of the opening Ashes Test at The Gabba in Brisbane.
Despite England’s best wicket-taker James Anderson being rested as a precaution, Broad, England’s second-highest Test wicket-taker, was left out.
“I expected at least one, if not both, to play in every game,” Cummins said.
On day one, England were bowled out for 147 runs, but batsman Ollie Pope believes they will “come back strong.”
Joe Root won the toss and chose to bat, but his team was reduced to 29-4 before being bowled out shortly before tea in 50.1 overs.
Due to inclement weather and poor lighting, Australia will begin their response on day two, commencing at 23:30 GMT on Wednesday.
“We were shocked [that Broad was left out], but they’ve got enough of other bowlers to come in and provide us a challenge,” said Cummins, who is captaining Australia for the first time.
Root stated during the coin toss: “It was a tough choice to make since we have a strong seam attack. There are five Tests, and it’s critical that they’re ready to go at any moment.”
Harry Gurney, one of Broad’s closest pals, said he talked to his former Nottinghamshire team-mate “this morning” and was “naturally devastated.”
“It does seem unusual,” Gurney observed, “especially since I heard Jimmy wasn’t playing.” “They’ll have their justifications.”
“He was fairly vocal the previous time he wasn’t picked for a Test match down in Southampton a few of years ago, but this time he’s a little more philosophical about it.”
Former England hitter Mark Ramprakash expressed his surprise at Broad’s omission on Radio 5 Live.
‘We have the ability to re-enter the game.’
Due to inclement weather, England’s preparation was restricted to just two days of outdoor playing time, and they got off to the worst possible start when opener Rory Burns was bowled by Mitchell Starc with the first ball of the match.
After that, Dawid Malan was sent out for six, skipper Root went scoreless, and Ben Stokes returned to make five, leaving England with a score of 29-4.
Pope added 31 runs to a partnership of 52 with wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, who top-scored with a counter-attacking 39.
When Buttler and Pope went in the space of 17 balls, England were 118-7, and Cummins got the last three wickets for 5-38.
“They bowled extremely effectively, and we perhaps simply didn’t make the transition to a day one Gabba surface soon enough,” Pope, who scored 35 in his debut Ashes Test, said.
“It wasn’t the easiest pitch to bat on, but if we’d only lost one wicket in the first session, we could have taken advantage of the softer ball in the afternoon session.”
“We’re not going to give up.” We have the skillset in our bowling to go back into the game and go for broke on the second dig.
“We have to make a great comeback.”
‘It’s a fantastic start.’
It was Cummins’ first day as Australia’s Test captain, after Tim Paine stepped down less than three weeks ago after a historical probe into sexually graphic messages he exchanged to a female employee.
Although it is the first time a fast bowler has led Australia since the 1950s, Cummins described the occasion as a “dream.”
The 28-year-old said, “It wasn’t a horrible throw to lose.” “I was definitely going to bat, but it was 50-50 – I didn’t believe it would make much of a difference in the game.”
“I thought things would be better after lunch, and it was a very typical Gabba pitch day.”
“We all bowled quite well, and I’m particularly impressed of everyone’s consistency. It was a fantastic start.”
