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'Against The Spirit Of Cricket': Pat Cummins Talks About Devising England's Exit

Australia beat England by 36 in Group B encounter [AP Photos]Australia beat England by 36 in Group B encounter [AP Photos]

Despite being troubled with low-scoring encounters, the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024 has been full of surprises, which has witnessed several associate nations knockout heavyweights, that has instilled life in all the groups heading into Super 8s.

One such group is Group B, where Australia having already qualified for the second stage, are on the lookout for eliminating rivals England if given a chance as suggested by pacer Josh Hazlewood, a statement that has been refuted by teammate Pat Cummins.

Cummins ahead of the contest against Scotland asserted that Australia would never transpire to manipulate net run rate, which would be a violation of the Spirit of Cricket.

 However, with England thrashing Oman by 8 wickets, have gained a superior net run rate, where all the permutations and combinations don't come into play if Jos Buttler and Co. just win their remaining match against Namibia, ensuring that Scotland will have to defeat the mighty Australia. 

As quoted by ESPNcricinfo, Cummins pointed out that Hazlewood's remark was just a joke, and that Australia will play as they always have.

That's probably against the spirit of cricket - Pat Cummins

"I think when you go out and play you are trying your best every time and if you are not, that's probably against the spirit of cricket. Haven't really thought too deeply because it's never really popped up.

I was speaking to Joshy, who had a bit of a joke about it the other day, and think it got taken a little bit out of context. We'll go there and just try and play Scotland who have had a really good tournament so far and will be tough. It's [net run rate] something you kind of discuss as one of the quirks of the set-up but in terms of does it change the way we play, absolutely not."

It is expected that Australia could rest some key players for June 16 contest, and give players on the bench likes Cameron Green, Josh Inglis and Ashon Agar a chance against Scotland, before the Super 8s kick in.

Interestingly, Australia have already setup a date with India, against whom they will clash on June 24 at St Lucia, as per pre-arranged seeding.