The Test Season 2: Aussie Resilience Redux

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Picture this. Your company is going down due to the misbehavior of some of your employees. Your stock price is plummeting, and your customers are angry. Along comes an executive who turns around your company, pulling it out of the proverbial ditch. Even better, he turns the bottom line up, the stock price climbs, and customers love you. All over again.

So, how would you reward this executive, this white knight who has rallied the employees of your company and brought the enterprise back into good graces?

Well, if you are the Australian national cricket board, you fire him!

This story is what happened to?Justin Langer, coach of the Australian men’s national cricket team. After helping to rebuild the program after a scandal (cheating in a South Africa Test match), he assembles a team and tutors them on winning. And they soar, beating England in the Test Match to win?The Ashes, the most significant event in international cricket (outside the Indian sub-continent).

Picking up the pieces

Along the way, however, Langer seems to have alienated the players. To be blunt, he was "old school," and they chafed under his rigidity. Respect, yes. Love, no.

Langer's firing after beating England again in 2021 came from their former captain being fired for a sexting scandal. Enter a newbie captain,?Pat Cummins. A proven performer in Test cricket as a fast bowler, Cummins is just 31, young to be captaining the national team.

So how does he do it? Not by himself. And that’s the theme of?The Test, Season Two?(Amazon Prime).?Season 1,?as a commentator put it, was about rebuilding. The new season focuses on what Cummins can do and how he will lead his team.

Test Cricket is an international competition. The eyes of your country are on you; consider it a mini-Olympics. Surviving and performing under scrutiny is essential. Some good players wilt under pressure. Others rise to the occasion and establish a legacy enshrined in trophies, wallboards, and, most importantly, the hearts of cricket fans.?

As the four-part second series unfolds, we peek at the players' lives, on and off the pitch. Watching them, you get a feel for Cummins's leadership style.

Address the issues.?Cummins opens his first team meeting by opening the floor to players who want to express their views on the change in management. None do, not because they are intimidated but because they have already made their opinions known to management, and the change was made.

Shine a light on others.?Season 2 is packed with stories of individual excellence. Older players are excelling for one final time, and younger players are finding their groove. The players support each other, and much dialogue exists about that support.

Respect the game.?In the first Test, the players learn that two cricketers of international renown have died on the same day. The effect on the players is sobering. These are players they knew from boyhood. Their depth of feeling is a recognition that Test cricket is more than a game; it's a legacy, and current players must do their part to uphold it.

Confront the demons.?Playing on the Indian sub-continent, first in Pakistan and next in Sri Lanka, is difficult. Pitch conditions are different and Pakistani and Sri Lankan players are highly skilled and playing before a home crowd. Due to security concerns, the players must be isolated in their hotels, albeit luxury ones. It becomes a bonding experience as players spend so much time together.

Build for the future.?The Australian national cricket team is back on solid footing. What the future will bring is uncertain, but the team, as does its captain Pat Cummins, seems upbeat.

Cricket has yet to catch on here in the States or in Europe — and may never do so — but the example of the coaches and players who play the game offer lessons for anyone who works in a time, on a pitch, or in an office.

First posted on Forbes.com on 6.21.2023

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