Cummins refuses to speculate on coach Langer's future, says wants to savour Ashes win first

Melbourne, Dec 28: Australia Test captain Pat Cummins on Tuesday (December 28) refused to speculate on head coach Justin Langer's future when his contract ends in June next year, simply saying that his team now just wants to "savour" the convincing Ashes victory over England here.

Cummins' statement came three days after Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley refrained from commenting on the issue of Langer's contract extension. "I think we'll savour this victory today and continue the Ashes," Cummins said when asked about Langer's future.

"I don't think today is the day to speculate on that. We'll all sit down together after this series or whenever his tenure is up. His contract is up for renewal in a few months and we'll deal with that then."

Pacer Scott Boland claimed six wickets for seven runs in the second innings of the Boxing Day Test to hand Australia an innings and 14 runs win over England to retain the Ashes. Australia had won the first two Tests by nine wickets and 275 runs at Brisbane and Adelaide respectively. An ecstatic Langer was also non-committal about his contract extension.

"We'll worry about that later," Langer told Fox Sports. There were reports of Langer's working style as head coach not going down well with some senior players with the then Test captain Tim Paine, limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch and Cummins having had discussions with CA top bosses on the issue.

In the lead-up to the Boxing Day Test, Langer had expressed his desire to continue guiding the side in all three formats of the game. Hockley, however, had remained non-committal.

Australia's Ashes-clinching hero Scott Boland was so nervous on his test cricket debut that he forgot to breathe.

At lunch on Sunday's first day of play, Boland received some friendly advice from Australia assistant coach Andrew McDonald to add speed to his run-up.

Boland claimed a modest haul of one wicket for 48 in England's first innings of the third Ashes test, before completing a remarkable debut by taking six wickets for seven runs in England's second innings and winning the player-of-the-match award.

Boland praised his former Victoria state coach McDonald for supporting him during his first Test match. "He's been huge. Since I found out on Christmas Eve that I was playing, I have been really nervous," Boland said.

"Coming off at lunch on day one, that was hard work. I felt like I wasn't breathing at all. I was just so nervous the whole time. He gave me clear instructions. He knows my bowling so well."

Boland also received great support from his home-state spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A crowd of 42,626 made the noise of a gathering twice as large when 32-year-old Boland took two wickets in his only over on Monday's second day of play. Boland took four wickets off three overs on Tuesday.

The big right-armer's figures of 6-7 for the second innings, including the key wicket of England captain Joe Root caught at slip for 28, left Tuesday's crowd of 40,945 fans chanting his name.