Quantcast

Cummins building strong body of work

Test speedster comes through Bangladesh tour with flying colours after grueling workload

Any doubts over the durability of Pat Cummins after a luckless run with injury in recent years have been well and truly dispelled, with the speedster coming through unscathed from a short but grueling Qantas Tour of Bangladesh.

After his stunning maiden Test, where he claimed a maiden five-wicket haul and struck the winning runs against South Africa in 2011, persistent injuries kept Cummins out of the Baggy Green for more than five years.

The right-armer was recalled midway through Australia's tour of India in February despite having played just one JLT Sheffield Shield game, but he's since sent down 140 overs in Test cricket and suffered no setback.

Cummins shouldered the fast-bowling load as the tourists’ sole seamer for the majority of the two-Test tour against Bangladesh, where oppressive tropical heat has been almost universally described by Australia players as the toughest they've encountered.

Lyon's 13 wickets sets a new Australian record

The paceman nonetheless impressed captain Steve Smith as he delivered spell after spell of searing pace in the drawn series, even if Cummins himself didn't always realise it.

"He really cranked it up today," Smith told reporters after Australia’s seven-wicket win on Thursday. "He was certainly bowling some really good pace, which is really nice to see.

"Patty is still young in terms of how much he has played. 

"We were speaking of him just then, (bowling coach) Ryan Harris and I, and he (Cummins) actually thought he bowled quicker in the first spell today and we were like 'no way, he definitely bowled quicker in the second'. 

"So he's still learning his body and learning at this level, but the more he plays the more he is going to get better.

"He is certainly an exceptional talent and someone that is going to be a valuable player in this team, hopefully for a long time."

Cummins' series figures of six wickets at 29 runs apiece fails to tell the full story of his tour.

The 24-year-old hardly put foot wrong across the two Tests, frequently beating the bat and hurrying the home side’s batsmen on pitches that gave zero assistance to the quicks.

His potency was on full display on the opening morning of the first Test, reducing Bangladesh to 3-10 inside the first 20 minutes of the series in a fiery spell.

And he left capable tail-ender Mehedi Hasan requiring medical assistance on day four of the second Test when a brute of a short delivery reared up and smashed him on the glove.

With bouncier pitches on offer and a stack of fast bowlers queuing up to join him at home this summer, he looms as a key figure as Australia aim to regain the Ashes urn.

"Patty's an unbelievable bowler," off-spinner Nathan Lyon said during the first Test in Dhaka.

"The amount of effort that goes in from those two, to go in and perform like (Cummins and fellow quick Josh Hazlewood) did in those type of conditions - it was pretty tough out there.

"I'm not going to lie, it was probably one of the toughest days I've had in Test match cricket with the heat and the humidity. 

"I'm pretty proud of those guys."

Australia in Bangladesh 2017

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Steve O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade.

Bangladesh squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (c), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mominul Haque.


27-31 August First Test, Dhaka, Bangladesh won by 20 runs


4-8 September Second Test, Chittagong