Pat Cummins has set his sights on playing six Tests in the space of eight weeks, declaring he has arrived in England feeling the freshest he has in years.
Cummins will suit up for his 50th Test in the World Test Championship final against India on Wednesday, a scenario he long thought was impossible.
Once the what-could-have-been story of Australian cricket amid a five-year run of injuries, Cummins has in recent years become Australia’s most reliable quick.
The 30-year-old expects Australia will rotate their frontline fast bowlers – himself, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Josh Hazlewood – in a bid to lessen the aftermath of a chaotic Ashes schedule.
But he is also hopeful he can remain on the field as captain throughout.
“It’s a balance,” Cummins said.
“I’ve been exhausted and depleted before but still got up and felt like I did a really good job. If that comes up at any stage, of course, it’s a conversation.
“But I’ll be aiming to play all six and there’s some good breaks in between every batch of two Tests matches here.
“It’s manageable. Cam Green helps out a little bit as well with the amount of overs he can bowl.”
Boland will come into Australia’s team as the third quick for the World Test Championship final at The Oval, with Hazlewood out with a side issue.
Australia expect to have Hazlewood back for the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston on June 16, allowing Boland to be a workhorse at The Oval with a rest likely to follow.
Pat Cummins . (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Cummins is unconcerned by Green entering the tour off the back of shorter spells in the Indian Premier League, predicting the allrounder’s workload will increase through the tour.
Australia’s captain is treating his 50-game milestone as significant, given the amount of setbacks he suffered following his 2011 debut.
“Longevity I always look at as as big an achievement as average, or strike rates, or anything to do with performance,” Cummins said.
“It is something to be pretty proud of. Particularly because for five or six years it felt like one Test match was a long way away.
“For sure (I felt regular Test cricket was beyond me). I felt maybe I could play a T20 or one-day cricket. But after bowing 10 overs a day, I would wake up and felt like I had a car crash.
“When you’re in your fifth cycle of stress fractures, 50 Tests feels like a long way away.”
That stuttering start is part of the reason Cummins is putting no timeline on his own career.
“I would love it if I wasn’t halfway yet,” he said.
“But we’ll wait and see. I feel really good, I have had two or three months off so I am feeling the best I have for a couple of years.
“I have just turned 30. Binga (Brett Lee) played into his mid-30s. Starcy and Josh are three or four years older than me and they are still pretty fit.”
Meanwhile, Cummins insists David Warner is under no illusions about his fairytale Sydney farewell, and the opener knows he must score runs to earn it.
Warner’s retirement announcement last weekend came with up to nine Tests still to play in his career, six in England over the next two months and three at home.
The 36-year-old is entering the England tour with plenty of pressure on his spot, after just one triple-figure score in the past three years of Test cricket.
Selectors have refused to guarantee Warner his position long-term, with the left-hander needing runs early on in England to fend off questions over his place in the side.
Australia have not always offered up the preferred farewell for experienced players, with Ian Healy famously dropped before his home Test at the Gabba in 1999.
Cummins said he had no issue with Warner’s early announcement, and backed the left-hander to extend his career towards the dream Sydney farewell against Pakistan in January.
“Davey is the first one to know he has to score runs,” Cummins said ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India at The Oval, which begins on Wednesday.
“We’d love a fairytale finish for Davey in Sydney, but he’s got to be scoring runs. But I’m sure, and history suggests, he’ll be scoring some runs.
“He’s played over 100 Test matches. So you never have to worry about Davey getting up for anything.”
Despite seven of Australia’s XI for the WTC final being aged 30 or over, Cummins said there was no need for players to plan to stage their exit out of the team.
(Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Australia have previously struggled following mass exoduses of players, most notably after retirements of the ‘golden generation’ in the 2000s.
“Ideally, while everyone’s scoring runs and taking wickets they’re playing as long as they can,” Cummins said.
“It’s something certainly the selectors talk about, probably more than us players, to try and make those transitions as easy as possible.
“Whenever we play a Test match and if it keeps young people out of the Test side hopefully they’re learning their craft in Shield cricket or county cricket.
“These things naturally evolve.
“But when you do get an injury or someone’s missing a Test match, that’s when the conversations come up (about) who can slot in and develop for the future.”
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
Nathan Lyon believes Australia would have won the 2023 Ashes series 4-0 if he hadn't broken down with injury. But the veteran spinner says…
Australia have reclaimed top spot in the ICC's Test rankings, replacing India. Despite not playing since winning 2-0 in New Zealand in March, Pat…
This series’ twelfth and final team has a distinct West Indian flavour at the top of the order, and a domineering captain.
Mitch Marsh has been appointed as Australia's men's Twenty20 captain, set to lead a squad to the World Cup that does not include Steve…
Australia are set to turn their back on rising star Jake Fraser-McGurk’s whirlwind IPL form and drop Steve Smith in their T20 World Cup…
