Pat Cummins has insisted Australia will not go against the ‘spirit of cricket’ by manipulating their crucial World Cup game against Scotland on Sunday in a bid to eliminate England.
His fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood had suggested it would make sense for the Australians to ‘knock it around and drag it out’ if that helped Scotland finish with a higher net run-rate than England – a move that would breach the ICC’s code of conduct and potentially lead to a ban for their captain, Mitchell Marsh.
England play Namibia on Sunday in Antigua, with victory likely to be enough to earn them qualification for the Super Eights, as long as Australia then beat Scotland in St Lucia.
But there is still a small chance this scenario could still knock England out on net run-rate, even if that scenario is less likely after their thrashing of Oman on Thursday. And Cummins – Australia’s Test captain – felt the need to intervene after Hazlewood’s crass comments and some equally clumsy attempts in the Australian camp to play them down.
‘I discussed the matter with Joshy, who had made a somewhat joking remark about it the other day, but I believe his comment was taken out of context,’ said Cummins. ‘We’ll simply focus on playing against Scotland, who have had an impressive tournament so far and will be a formidable opponent.
Pat Cummins has insisted Australia won’t manipulate their game against Scotland to try and knock England out of the T20 World Cup
Josh Hazlewood (right) had suggested that his side could try and score slowly to ensure England were eliminated
Jos Buttler’s side are relying on their rivals beating Scotland to reach the Super Eights
‘Net run-rate is one of the quirky aspects of the tournament that we discuss, but it doesn’t change how we approach the game. When you step on to the field, you should always be giving your full effort. Anything less would be against the spirit of cricket.’
The subject remains a bone of contention between the two Ashes rivals after the stumping of Jonny Bairstow by Alex Carey in the Lord’s Test last summer. The third series of Amazon Prime’s The Test, broadcast recently, revealed that Cummins instigated the dismissal, urging Carey to ‘just have a throw’, though he maintained he had done nothing to offend the game’s spirit.
England fast bowler Mark Wood said he had no doubt Australia – who have already qualified for the next stage of the World Cup – would do their best to beat Scotland.
‘I’m absolutely confident they’ll play the game their hardest,’ he said. ‘That’s the Australian way: they’ll play hard and fair and try to get the win.’
