The Aussies barely have time to debrief and rest let alone plot the commencement of their 2025-27 World Test Championship campaign in Barbados, but the new cycle beginning in less than a fortnight no doubt opens up opportunities for renewal.
Their second dig with the bat was nothing short of a top order capitulation which not only set victors South Africa a fourth innings target of under 300, but denied themselves the best batting conditions of the match beyond lunch on day three and into day four.
Cummins theorised that Australia's Test team could take a similar approach to the white ball units, which take World Cup cycles into account when contemplating the depth and spread of changes they make to the playing group.
“In white-ball series a lot of the time, you build on four-year cycles around World Cups for ODIs,” Cummins told reporters on Saturday.
"Maybe it’s an opportunity in the Test matches to do something similar. But it’s a little bit early to tell.
“Coming into this match, you’ve got guys like Sam Konstas and Scotty Boland, Josh Inglis, all those guys who are right on the fringes.
“After this Test match, everyone gets thrown back into the conversation, and it’s a little bit of a reset for the first Test against the West Indies."
Which begs the question: what might a refreshed Australia Test XI, which for more than a decade has taken a sometimes frustratingly stubborn pride in maintaining the same four-man bowling attack where possible, look like following a 'reset'?
The batters
Cummins laid much of the blame for Australia's WTC final loss on the top three, who between them combined for only 49 runs from six innings.
Usman Khawaja: Heading rapidly towards his 39th birthday, Usman Khawaja himself cannot deny he's running out of time. A double century on a low and slow surface in Galle came between failures against rapid pace in both Australia and London and his reflexes against 140+ kph bowling are visibly waning.
He was dismissed six times in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy by Jasprit Bumrah and another three by Mohammed Siraj, averaging a less than acceptable 20.44 for the series, and before that New Zealand's pinpoint accurate Matt Henry got him in three successive innings.
England have not hid their burning ambition to send their fastest bowling battery possible to Australia in 2025/26, headlined by Jofra Archer and Mark Wood if fit, and so Australia could in fact do their Ashes preparation harm by backing Khawaja to make runs on the low bouncing pitches of the West Indies rather than exposing his successor to international grade Test bowling.
Either way, the selectors' willingness to experiment with the top order against India (through Nathan McSweeney and then Sam Konstas) underlines Khawaja's fragility should he fail against England in Perth - if he gets there at all. He looks to be a lock for the West Indies series, with head coach Andrew McDonald saying he "gives us stability at his best at the top ... and we like to look at our players at their best."
Sam Konstas: It seemed almost certain that Konstas would open the batting in Barbados later this month until McDonald flirted with the idea of Travis Head returning to the top of the order, just as he did in Sri Lanka earlier this year whilst simultaneously stressing the importance of "bedding down an opening combination". With such mixed messages, all we can do is wait.
Nonetheless, Konstas has the perfect temperament to out-swagger the ultra-aggressive approach of the old enemy. Selectors may have made a mistake by not challenging him to perform in an ICC final and they can't afford to leave him waiting on the wings any longer.
Cameron Green: An indispensable member of the side. Number three didn't work out for him on this occasion, but with his sound defensive technique, there's no reason why it can't in the future. He can remain a tremendous asset for Australia even as long as he is not fit enough to bowl.
Marnus Labuschagne: The axe has been looming over the back of his neck for months now, and whilst McDonald is hesitant to part with players knowing what they're capable of, he hinted Labuschagne's in trouble when suggesting that "most players across their journey get dropped at some point in time".
But he declared the 30-year-old Labuschagne to be a "big part of the future of the team" and someone who can "underpin the batting order" for the next five years whilst it makes its generational change from 39-year-old Khawaja to 19-year-old Konstas.
Steve Smith's finger dislocation has all-but-guaranteed Labuschagne's participation in the West Indies series as a number three, and in all likelihood he'll at least start in Perth against England. But once Smith inevitably returns, and if his understudy Josh Inglis has a stellar start to the 2025/26 Sheffield Shield season, Marnus will be in trouble.
Beau Webster: Safe for as long as Cameron Green can't bowl, with a very mature first innings 72 at Lord's showing he too could fill the role of middle order batter and relief bowler. A half-century ensures that someone like Sean Abbott, who could offer more with the ball, can't nudge him out.
Steve Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey: Three of the four locks (alongside Green) in Australia's top-seven without question.
The bowlers
The quartet of Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon played their first Test together more than seven years ago and their 33rd last week. Take Cummins out and the remaining three have had 55 games together. If new WTC cycles are going to be all about renewal, it's imperative about which bowlers will be taking them to the final in 2027 and beyond.
Pat Cummins: Obviously the first man picked in the side, still, and for good reason.
Mitchell Starc: He's had his own critics in recent years, but it was he who prized out the first two wickets in both innings at Lord's. There hasn't been a season since 2020/21 where he hasn't averaged less than 30, illustrating the consistency he brings to Australia's wicket-taking abilities, even with the odd ineffective innings here and there.
His batting with both Alex Carey and Josh Hazlewood in the second innings reminded us all of the immense importance of a number nine who can negotiate long stays at the crease whilst also showing the top order the kind of conditions they missed out on. Even at age 35, he should be second pick (behind his captain) for The Ashes.
Josh Hazlewood: That unplayable nip-backer to bowl Tristan Stubbs through the gate was vintage Josh Hazlewood, wasn't it? Unfortunately for Australia that was where his impact ended as he finished with match figures of 2-85, which is his worst since November 2022 when excluding the Brisbane Test against India where he went off early with a series-ending calf injury.
Injuries have been a big part of his career in recent years which has led to urgent calls for the Aussies to blood someone like Abbott in the next series.
Nathan Lyon: The potential for spinning pitches in the Caribbean makes the 37-year-old Lyon a lock for the the next series, not least because it could give him another opportunity to play alongside understudy Matt Kuhnemann five months after his last. There are also no queries about his suitability to lace up for what would be his eighth Ashes series.
Now that his successor appears to have been settled, there's no rush to push him out the door as long as he continues to do his job.
Scott Boland: Older than both Hazlewood and Starc at age 36, Boland still has the fitness of a man ten years his junior. When confirming last week that Boland missed selection for the WTC final, Cummins was keen to assure the public that Boland would be a big part of Australia's Test plans in the next two years.
"By having a squad of fast bowlers, hopefully we can extend all our careers for an extra couple of years," Cummins told reporters, hinting that regular rotation and a more stringent management of the fast bowlers' workloads will grow in importance over coming years as they all head into the twilight of their international careers.
31-year-old Brendan Doggett was the travelling reserve until picking up a hip injury in London that will rule him out of the West Indies series, for which Sean Abbott will be called up to potentially star in.
