On 'Manipulation' Suggestion, Pat Cummins' "Spirit Of Cricket" Remark Is Viral

Insisting that Josh Hazlewood's remarks were not serious, Australia lead pacer Pat Cummins said they would have never tried to manipulate their net run rate to knock England out of the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup, which would have been "against the Spirit of Cricket". Pacer Hazlewood had sparked a controversy when he said that the Aussies would try to eliminate England from the tournament if there was such an opportunity for them in their upcoming Group B match against Scotland.

“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. We haven't really thought too deeply because it's (NRR manipulation) never really popped up,” Cummins told reporters here.

Cummins said he had had a talk with Hazlewood about the latter's comments, and said the thought about NRR never really figured in anybody's thought process.

"I was speaking to Joshy, who had a bit of a joke about it the other day, and think it (his comments) 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 (NRR) 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,” Cummins offered.

“I've never stepped into the field without the mindset of trying to take the game on and be aggressive, like the guys have so far,” he added.

Cummins himself would know a fair bit about the Spirit of Cricket as he was in the eye of a storm during the last Ashes as Alex Carey's stumping off Jonny Bairstow paved away for heated debates.

However, the scenario of Australia manipulating their NRR does no longer exist after England's thumping