Image Credit- CA
While his opposite number Kraigg Brathwaite maintained
his appeal for West Indies to be given more Test cricket, Pat Cummins was able
to see the wider picture of what had happened on a dramatic fourth day at the
Gabba. The sting of his first home defeat as Test captain was still fresh in
his mind.
Shamar Joseph removed Josh Hazlewood’s off stump,
resulting in the West Indies’ first win in Australia since Cummins was four
years old in 1997. With most of their caps divided between only two players,
the visitors were devoid of experience when they came, yet they managed to pull
off one of the biggest upsets in history by taking Australia’s final eight
wickets for 96 runs, with Shamar accounting for seven of them.
“Yeah, you can [see the significance],”
Cummins said. “Which isn’t necessarily helpful because you are still
hurting after a loss. They outplayed us, they played brilliantly. I know a lot
of the talk coming into this was there were some debutants and some names who
hadn’t traveled over here before, but once you put out an international XI, you
know it’s going to be tough.
“They’ve been fantastic, they created a couple of
new superstars that we didn’t know about before the series and as a cricket
fan, as a Test-match cricket fan, there’s a part of me that was happy to
watch.”
Brathwaite, meanwhile, believed that West Indies’ bid
to rebuild as a Test team was not helped by the long gaps between series.
“I do believe we should be playing more Test
cricket more consistently,” Brathwaite said. “Our next Test is July
10, which is a long while away. I believe we have the talent and have shown the
world we can win Test matches, but we need to play more.”
However, he also acknowledged that while a famous
victory should be savoured, the players must maintain the focus that has helped
them compete on this tour. “That’s how we keep pushing ourselves,” he
said. “When you play Test cricket you are playing against the best in the
world. The key for us is to never slack off and have heart. Obviously this team
has a lot of heart. My theme to the guys is you did well, but this is just one
Test win, we have a number of Tests remaining this year, so this same attitude we
had, it has to continue.”