Australia's return to cricket action after a long break due to COVID-19 pandemic ended in a narrow 2-run loss against England. The Australian side was looking at a relatively easy win during the chase, with only 36 needed from the final five overs -- with seven wickets to spare. However, the middle-order faced a monumental collapse with Maxwell (1), Carey (1) and Agar (4) going cheaply, and Marcus Stoinis failing to step up in the finisher's role.
The all-rounder remained unbeaten on 23 off 18 deliveries but failed to guide the side to victory. However, Pat Cummins, who also remained not out at the other end with Stoinis, has said that it is too early to take a call on the middle-order.
"I'd say them (Stoinis, Carey), plus we've got the other guys in this squad over here that are identified in that middle order, so more than likely those guys are going to get a long run," Cummins said, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"I think we're pretty happy with our combination, it's worked for us over the last couple of years in T20 cricket, so it's just about slotting those guys into those roles consistently. I'd say that's more than likely going to happen."
Cummins has further said that the Australian side is aiming for a similar impact as MS Dhoni in the middle-order. Dhoni is widely regarded as one of the greatest finishers of the game and steered India to many memorable run-chases during his time in the international side.
The Australian pacer, citing the example of Dhoni, said that one needs to have patience with players to allow them to improve in their roles.
"It's something we've spoken about for exactly that reason. They're all the best players when they go back for domestic comps and you could argue that middle-order role is one of the hardest in any cricket team. That's what we've identified - that we've got to try and give guys a go in that - because someone like MS Dhoni was best in the world at it because he'd played 300 or 400 ODI games. And I think you saw this week during the practice games we gave a lot of guys a go in that and we know it's not going to happen overnight," said Cummins.
