Cummins' quip sums up Edwards' peculiar road to ODI cap

After a 40-hour trip from the east coast of India to the east coast of South Africa, the entire Australian cricket team surrounded Jack Edwards on the Kingsmead outfield.

In their circle, Pat Cummins stood in front of the hulking allrounder in Durban's steamy morning heat, joking about the colour of the cap he was about to present him. Edwards was still shaking off jet lag after landing on his third continent in a week, having been preparing to play in Australia A's four-day game against India A in Puducherry only days earlier when selector Tony Dodemaide told him the ODI squad needed him instead.

The 26-year-old could have been forgiven for thinking this was a strange fever dream where not all the details quite made sense.

Which goes to Cummins' gag. In December, Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Indian Premier League team he captains, had bought Edwards for a sum nearing A$500k. In February, weeks after making his international debut in a T20 against Pakistan in Lahore, Edwards injured his hamstring in the Sheffield Shield.

Then, not long before he planned to fly out for the IPL, he broke his foot bowling in the nets. It put him in a moon boot for three months, knocking him out of what was set to be his maiden stint in cricket's premier T20 league.

His unusual journey to Kingsmead was largely in keeping with his peculiar past six months. Even in his somewhat disorientated state, Edwards saw the funny side of Cummins' quip that he would have to settle for a yellow cap over an orange one. "It was great," he told cricket.com.au. "He had a bit of humour in there.

"It just made me feel very relaxed, just to do what I've been doing to get here, and I don't need to reinvent the wheel. Just play my way and enjoy the day, which can be hard on debut when you're so nervous. But it was great to be out there in front of a big crowd.

"I felt like I held my own with the ball.

"I think just finding out last night and only being here for a few days, and then the short turnaround into the game this morning – (there was) not too much time to dwell on it and overthink it.

"It was a little bit of a restless night (prior to Thursday's first ODI) – but more just excitement to get out and try to show what I could do."

Indeed, he did, despite Edwards still chasing a maiden international wicket after also failing to take one from his two overs against Pakistan earlier this year.

From conceding 21 off his first three overs with Temba Bavuma and Ryan Rickelton going after him, he returned to bowl four of the final 11 overs and proved Australia's most effective option at the death.

In 30 balls to the set pair of Matthew Breetzke and Marco Jansen, he conceded only 23, holding the pair to a collective strike-rate of 76 with a series of slower, shorter, wider deliveries. Against the three frontline seamers, Breetzke and Jansen struck at 111 in a match-winning partnership.  

The sight of captain Mitch Marsh heartily applauding the right-armer between dot balls underscored the character Edwards had shown.

That he had come across both those South Africans in his third Major League Cricket stint earlier this year at Washington Freedom, sharing a dressing room with Jansen and playing against Breetzke, did not hurt either.

"It was nice to be called upon in those moments," said Edwards. "I've bowled at those guys before in different tournaments around the world, so I felt like I had a little bit of a read on what to do to them.

"Got some nice clarity from the coaches and 'Bison' (Marsh) out there. I just tried to back the skills that have got me here. I've bowled some tough overs in the Big Bash over the past couple of years. It's always daunting bowling at the death, but I tried to relish the opportunity, and it went OK."

There was room for improvement with the bat, Edwards making five off 15 before edging Keshav Maharaj to first slip, though he was hardly alone in struggling against the Proteas' left-arm spinners in the 67-run defeat.

With five domestic centuries to his name, including one as a teenager in NSW's domestic one-day final win over Western Australia in 2018, the right-hander is a dual threat who fits a skill gap in Australia's limited-overs set-up.

Last year's retirement of Marcus Stoinis, and Marsh quietly hanging up his own bowling boots, has left Cameron Green, who played on Thursday but did not bowl due to a shoulder problem, as Australia's only regular seam-bowling allrounder.

Liam Scott was tried in a similar role in an ODI against Bangladesh earlier this year, while Aaron Hardie has fallen out of favour. Test No.7 Beau Webster has publicly put his hand up for a white-ball role but selectors have not indicated that he is in their thinking.

With all-format star Green's workload certain to be managed over the coming years, more opportunities could beckon for Edwards.

Next year's World Cup, back in southern Africa at a similar time of year, is not out of reach, though Edwards insisted: "It's a long way away, to be honest … I definitely won't be looking that far ahead.

"I'll just keep trying to improve, take some learnings away … if you keep doing that, then you put yourself in position to get selected down the line."

Qantas tour of South Africa 2026

All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket

First ODI: South Africa beat Australia by 67 runs

Second ODI: September 27, Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, 6pm AEST (10am local)

Third ODI: September 30, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, 9:30pm AEST (D/N, 1:30pm local)

South Africa ODI squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Duan Jansen, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Nqobani Mokoena, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Marsh, Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Joel Davies, Jack Edwards, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa