After leading his team to a narrow two-wicket win over England in the Ashes 2023 opener, Australia skipper Pat Cummins described the victory as the pinnacle of his Test career so far.

Cummins played an instrumental role in Australia’s thrilling victory, hitting an unbeaten 44 and stitching an unbroken partnership of 55 runs for the ninth wicket with Nathan Lyon (16*) to take his side home in the chase of 281.

Reflecting on this win, Cummins, who guided Australia to World Test Championship (WTC) triumph by defeating India earlier this month, said: "Number one. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Start of an Ashes series. Number one."

During the 2019 Ashes series, Australia were at the receiving end of a heartbreaking one-wicket defeat against England at Headingley and Cummins was relieved to be on the right side this time around.

"Yeah, I would be lying if I said it didn't (cross my mind). We were on the other side of one in the last series here. When you're on the other side, it feels like one that's got away and it really hurts," the Australian captain stated.

Expressing his satisfaction, Cummins further said, "It's a really happy dressing room in there. A lot of those guys were there at Headingley, and to clinch one that was perhaps out of our grasp for a little while there is pretty satisfying."

While England continued with their ultra-aggressive approach right from the first day, Australia adhered to a traditional red-ball strategy, unfazed by the chants of "boring, boring Aussies" from sections of the Edgbaston crowd.

Talking about the atmosphere, Cummins stated, "The fans were pretty noisy out on the hill. Win or lose, we are pretty comfortable with how we go about it."

"We've been really good for the last 20 Test matches over two years... We are at our best when we play at our own pace and tempo," he added.

The second Ashes Test will be played at Lord’s from June 28 to July 2.

(With AFP Inputs)