Cummins focused on bowling, not body

A "dream run" of fitness has finally allowed paceman Pat Cummins to forget about his injury troubles and focus on doing what he does best - bowling fast.

After a seemingly endless run of serious injuries that stalled the progress of one of the most promising young fast bowlers in Australia, Cummins is currently enjoying the longest run of good fitness in his international career.

The right-armer returned from a year-long absence last October and has barely missed in beat since then, playing 41 matches across Test, one-day and T20 cricket in that time.

The prospect of another serious injury was once seemingly always on the horizon for the luckless Sydneysider, but now Cummins is relishing the chance to focus on his bowling and not his body.

"I've been playing games for about eight or nine months flat out without really missing a game or being rested for a game," he said in Birmingham ahead of Australia's Champions Trophy opener on Friday.

"I feel like I'm in a really good place and I feel like I've played a lot of cricket. It's been a bit of a dream run, which is always what you hope for.

"With the off-season I had (in 2016) and coming through the Matador Cup ... by the time I came back into the one-day side, I felt like I only had to worry about bowling and luckily that stayed the same throughout the summer.

"There's so many games on (so) you just play and worry about recovering for the next one. I haven't had to worry about anything long-term, so it's been great."

Cummins's return to Australia's limited-overs side last summer had been meticulously planned, but a shock Test comeback also arrived in March when a series-ending injury to Mitchell Starc left the Aussies without a strike fast bowler in India.

Despite having just a single Sheffield Shield match under his belt, his first in almost six years, Cummins was rushed back into the Test team and excelled on the subcontinent, taking eight wickets at 30 and bowling with impressive pace on surfaces that were largely unresponsive to his bowling.

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More importantly, his once fragile body held firm against the rigours of the five-day game, a pleasing outcome that shocked even Cummins himself.

"Playing a four-day game for NSW before (the Test series), I almost surprised myself with how well I pulled up," he said.

"There wasn't too much stiffness. I felt like I could have gone out there and bowled for another couple of days.

"It was the same in India. It was really tough conditions to bowl, bowling three days in a row, but again my body felt great after that.

"It was probably the first time in about five years where I've felt like I could play quite a bit of first-class cricket without having to worry about anything else. So it's really pleasing.

"Even in the past couple of years, playing some ODIs has been such a jump in intensity so it always took a couple of days to get over it. There's so many games so sometimes you don't get that rest in between.

"Whereas now, I just feel being a couple of years older, and having a full off-season at a pretty low intensity (meant) when I did come back, it felt like my body was a bit more hardened than it used to be."

While a maiden Test on home soil and an Ashes debut looms this summer, the right-armer's first task is to help Australia add the 2017 Champions Trophy title to their World Cup crown from two years ago.

Cummins excelled on a flat batting surface in Australia's warm-up match against Sri Lanka last week, conceding just 20 from his first seven overs before copping some punishment late in the innings.

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He looks set to play alongside fellow NSW quicks Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood against New Zealand on Friday at Edgbaston, where he's hoping conditions both above and below will be more to his liking after a long stint in India. 

"I've been bowling on Indian wickets for the last three months so it's nice to have a bit of a change," he said.

"The first week we had over here, the practice wickets and the game at The Oval were pretty good wickets. They were pretty dry, there wasn't much swing or nip that you sometimes expect over here.

"I love it. It can be unforgiving but I feel like if you bowl well, you're always in the game."

Champions Trophy 2017 Guide

Squads: Every Champions Trophy squad named so far

Group A: Australia, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh.

Group B: India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan.

Schedule

Warm-up matches

26 May – Australia v Sri Lanka, The Oval

27 May – Bangladesh v Pakistan, Edgbaston

28 May – India v New Zealand, The Oval

29 May – Australia v Pakistan, Edgbaston

30 May – New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Edgbaston

30 May – Bangladesh vs India, The Oval

Tournament

1 June – England v Bangladesh, The Oval (Day)

2 June – Australia v New Zealand, Edgbaston (D)

3 June – Sri Lanka v South Africa, The Oval (D)

4 June – India v Pakistan, Edgbaston (D)

5 June – Australia v Bangladesh, The Oval (D/N)

6 June – England v New Zealand, Cardiff (D)

7 June – Pakistan v South Africa, Edgbaston (D/N)

8 June – India v Sri Lanka, The Oval (D)

9 June – New Zealand v Bangladesh, Cardiff (D)

10 June – England v Australia, Edgbaston (D)

11 June – India v South Africa, The Oval (D)

12 June – Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Cardiff (D)

14 June – First semi-final (A1 v B2), Cardiff (D)

15 June – Second semi-final (A2 v B1), Edgbaston (D)

18 June – Final, The Oval (D)

19 June – Reserve day (D)