Asked if the bulk of the Australian team (besides Cameron Green, David Warner in the IPL and Marnus Labuschagne in county cricket) would be a little rusty due to the near total lack of playing time after the series in India, the skipper on Sunday asked to disagree.

Breaks are rare, said the great contemporary, who accounted for 217 wickets in 49 matches.

I’ve always said that in six Test matches (including five in the Ashes) it’s better to be a little under-played than over-played. I’m speaking from a player’s perspective. That’s why I want to be physically fresh.

We’ve been practicing a lot at home. We’ve practiced a lot, recovered, refreshed and full of energy, Cummins brushed off talk of rust during the ICC Afternoon with Test Legends event in the Oval.

Calling the course good, with plenty of bounce, Cummins is confident his team has enough bowlers to take advantage of those conditions.

We need to know our moments to get wickets. We need to take 20 wickets and there is no point in trying everything in the first innings. We have a lot of bowlers to use at different times, Cummins said.

Australia have won just two Tests at the Oval in the last 50 years and their overall winning percentage on the ground in South London is just 14 per cent.

Our playing group has not played many of those 50 tests. Most of us have played a few Ash games. Few guys were scoring balls, and the bowlers had some pace and rebounding. So it should be fine, said the skipper.

Cummins thinks his team has really turned things around this WTC cycle after missing the bus last time.In fact, he admitted that until they missed the opportunity to play the final in the inaugural championship cycle in 2021, they didn’t talk about it.

That (missing the finals) was the driving force behind the team, and we earned the right to play in the finals, he said.He said that among all the teams, if one side gave them the biggest boost, it had to be the Indian team that won two straight series in Australia.

I think we were pretty formidable at home, and only (the loss) to the Rohit (Virat Kohli and Ajinka Rahane team) in the last two rounds … bothered us. Everybody got in their own rut, and some are at the end of their careers and at the peak of their game, Cummins said.