‘Not the action of a guy who’s going to be bowling in four days time’ - Ian Smith fumes over watching injured Pat Cummins captaining the side

Australia’s Test captain Pat Cummins picked up a quad injury on day three of the first Test against West Indies and he did not bowl again in the remainder of the game. However, the 29-year-old was spotted on the field yet again in the final day’s play which raised a lot of concerns among the experts in the commentary panel.  

Steve Smith took over as the stand-in skipper once Cummins was injured and the visitors managed to take the game to the fifth day’s play with seven wickets in hand. Although Cummins did not bowl again, he still wanted to captain the side which proved to be a risky decision. The right-arm quick chased down a delivery with a quick sprint and ended up aggravating his injury further. 

Speaking on Cummins' constrained movement further, Ian Smith revealed his concerns over the Australia skipper playing in the second Test during his commentary stint on air. “I’m telling you, that is not the action of a guy who’s going to be bowling in Test cricket in four days’ time,” Smith said on Fox Cricket. 

There’s no point in being out there at all: Ian Smith 

Smith felt that Cummins' first responsibility will be to focus on bowling rather than leading the side and questioned his presence on the field despite the injury. He further felt that the fast bowler should not have taken the field unless he was sure of not aggravating the injury and added his disappointment despite understanding the bowler’s sentiments. 

“Why would he be on the field? I take your point about leading from the front and being part of the victory, but when it comes to his main job in the side, outside of that, is bowling. So he can’t do his main role in the field as such. He must’ve been guaranteed the fact that he can’t do any more damage while he’s out there. Otherwise there’s no point in being out there at all. I like the sentimental side of things, but...” Smith concluded. Australia has taken a 1-0 lead after winning the first Test against West Indies by 164 runs.