Having conquered the cricket world Pat Cummins must now bridge the generations | Jack Snape
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Winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade means Pat Cummins’ Australian side has won every Test trophy on offer to them. But his ageing side is crying out for new blood. After a hard-fought fifth Test victory over India to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a 3-1 margin, the post-series press conference with Pat Cummins, wearing a weary grin under a pink brim, began with a juicy full toss of a question: “As a captain,” the journalist asked, “do you feel you have completed cricket now?”.
![[Pat Cummins and his team pose with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after defeating India in Sydney.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/fc37d94596a18c2553537f8cb80213698de2b95b/487_1000_6503_3904/master/6503.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
It was in some ways justified. Having become the first Australia Test captain since Mark Taylor on the 1997 Ashes campaign to turn a 0-1 deficit into a five-Test series triumph, Cummins’ side now hold the trophies in every one of their bilateral Test series. They also won the 2023 ODI World Cup in India and will defend their World Test Championship mace against South Africa in the final at Lord’s in June.
![[At 19, NSW batter Sam Konstas is the only member of Australia’s Test team under 30.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d4277c4e5cf373d551490891747c46b6a3a0be13/0_232_5484_3290/master/5484.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
But the contest in Sydney was hardly a coronation. The Test hung on the batting contribution of Test debutant Beau Webster and the absence of injured India superstar Jasprit Bumrah in the final innings. Even without Bumrah, Steve Smith’s dismissal at 3 for 58 looked set to give the series a final twist. Only modest yet vital contributions from Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Webster sealed a six wicket win.
![[Veteran Usman Khawaja’s dire form against India symbolised an ageing side in need of transition.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c19ea429c5e5e090bfb6fc4353dc06fa890169c2/0_165_4970_2984/master/4970.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
It was easy to forget India had walloped the home side by 295 runs in Perth and that in the subsequent six weeks Bumrah had made the Australia’s batters look like ten-pins at a bowling alley. Yet the immediate outlook for Cummins’ side is all beer and skittles. Alex Carey said the team deserved a drink, and an obliging Sam Konstas was still on the SCG turf with a bottle in hand at 9pm on Sunday night. Head – another known to enjoy an ale in celebration of a crowded trophy cabinet – said “the T20 World Cup is the last one to tick off for a few of us”.
