Cummins insisted Australia would have prepared in exactly the same way regardless of the opposition, whether it was Bangladesh or a high-profile Ashes series.
“It’s a Test against the Ashes or it’s a series against Bangladesh, we would prepare exactly the same,” Cummins said.
“You can always look back at the end of a series, but I felt like we were in a pretty good place. Everyone was fit and ready to put their best foot forward.”
Australia were undone by a poor batting display in the first Test, before bouncing back to win the second by an innings and secure a series draw.
Asked what went wrong in the opening match, Cummins offered no excuses and admitted Australia simply failed to perform at their best.
“I think we just didn’t play well,” he said on the Keeping It Cricket podcast. “It wasn’t a lack of preparation. We weren’t at our best. Bangladesh played really well and didn’t give us much of a chance to get back into the game.”
Australia’s next Test assignment will be a three-match series in South Africa. Cummins, however, will sit out the preceding ODI series against Zimbabwe.
The South Africa tour will also mark Australia’s first Test series there since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. Cummins expects some attention around the controversial past but does not believe it will overshadow the cricket.
“There might be a little bit of excitement, but everyone moves on,” he said. “The best thing is there are three Test matches. Once you focus on cricket, pretty quickly everyone starts thinking about just cricket.”
Cummins acknowledged there could be some hostility from the stands and renewed media focus on the old controversy.
“There will certainly be some excited fans in the stands, and some news or media will bring up some of the old stuff but our team has moved on.”
