3 minute read

Pat Cummins says he'll trust his gut instincts and avoid being overloaded by data and pre-game planning during his reign as Australia's Test captain.

Pat Cummins will keep trusting his gut instincts, saying pre-game captaincy plans count for little.

Cummins will lead Australia's Test team for a second time against England in the Adelaide Oval day-nighter starting Thursday.

And he's adamant he won't be swamped by any data overload during his reign.

"Data is really good now, we have got some great analysts and some great cricket knowledge to match up with that," he said.

"You do a lot of planning around probably match-ups, different bowling partnerships.

"But I am a big believer, especially in red ball cricket and Test match cricket, a lot of it is just your own feel, your own intuition.

"Every scenario is slightly different to the one that you might have faced previous.

"It's great to have it (data) there to fall back on and to come up with different ideas and plan for different scenarios.

"But 95 per cent of the work is done once you actually step over the rope."

Cummins said his captaincy tenure began "perfectly" in Australia's nine-wicket win against England in the series-opener in Brisbane.

"Just about everyone in our 11 got into the series and really contributed at some stage in that game, so it went perfectly for us," he said.

"No doubt that is not going to happen every game, it's certainly not going to happen (throughout) this series I am sure.

"We couldn't be happier with the start - but knowing that it is only one match in a five-match series."

Cummins found the captaincy wasn't a burden on his bowling - evidenced by taking seven wickets in the match, including 5-38 in England's first innings.

"The busiest part so far was actually just the lead-up," he said.

"Once the game actually started, I felt it wasn't too different.

"I got into the rhythm just like if I was bowling normally without being captain.

"I felt for the most part I could concentrate on my own skills and how I could help as captain."

Opener David Warner will play in Adelaide amid discomfort from a rib inury while West Australian paceman Jhye Richardson replaces fellow quick Josh Hazlewood (side strain).

Australia have won all eight of their pink-ball Tests, including five in Adelaide, while England have one victory and three losses in day-night Tests.