World's best Cummins finds his Gabba blueprint

It takes a 72-year rewinding of the clock to find a more effective Test match bowler at the Gabba than Pat Cummins. 

That was a left-arm Australian paceman named Ernie Toshack, who played at the Brisbane venue twice and captured 20 wickets at an average of 6.50 and a strike-rate of 21. 

Next on the list sits Cummins. The 26-year-old has been a regular record-breaker since his long-awaited return to Test cricket in March 2017 and his numbers at the Gabba make for head-shaking reading: two Tests, 14 wickets at 12.14, with a wicket every 31 deliveries. 

Much of that damage was inflicted in January against a Sri Lanka side that was widely dismissed as second-rate, however their historic series victory in South Africa that followed soon after cast a different hue on the Aussies' two-nil home win. 

Cummins sees that player-of-the-match performance (he took a career-best 10-62) and also the Australians' 10-wicket win over England a year earlier as his how-to guide for the upcoming first Test against Pakistan, beginning Thursday. 

And as he sees it, his ability to put the squeeze on the opposition – they scored at just 2.35 runs per over against him – was critical to his success.

"The pink ball swung and nipped around quite a bit in that (Sri Lanka) game, but we also kept the scoreboard really tight, and wickets kind of fell that way," Cummins told cricket.com.au. 

"So I think that's the blueprint. It was similar in the Ashes the year before; England batted for a long time but they were going at a slower run-rate, and if you bat long enough there's going to be a ball with your name on it."

As he prepares to launch into his third home summer, Cummins is still getting his head around the idea he is now ranked by the ICC as the world's number one bowler. 

The right-armer has been Australia's most outstanding bowler in recent times, with former Test skipper Ricky Ponting even comparing him during the Ashes to the dominant paceman of the past decade, South African Dale Steyn.  

And it was the presence of Steyn at the top of the Test bowling rankings for such a sustained period that made the Australian baulk at the magnitude of his rise. 

"It's crazy – I don't really know how to explain it," Cummins said of his lofty rankings status. "The last six or seven years, Dale Steyn's been number one, and for me he's been the guy I've put up on a pedestal and thought, 'How good is he?' 

"To think I'm number one now is really weird. It doesn't change what I'm trying to do out on the field or who I am, but it's a nice little nod to have."

It is a mountain he summited in February – less than two years after his return to Test cricket – and one he has stayed atop of in the intervening nine months, owing to a modus operandi made famous by his predecessor Glenn McGrath. 

"I've been really happy with my accuracy," he said. "I feel like the more I've bowled, the more accurate I've become. 

"When I almost don't have to think, 'Is this ball going to land where I want it to?' it gives me time to consider other options – just knowing that your stock ball is in a good place. 

"Other than that, it's just been about trying to run in, bowl with a heavy ball and get it nipping around. 

"But I think just that dedication to the top of off-stump has been something that has almost surprised me over the last couple of years. 

"For me personally I'm always trying to bowl top of off-stump, to bring in lbw, bowled, as many different dismissals into play as possible."

Domain Test Series v Pakistan

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali (c), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Snr, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah.

Warm-up match: Australia A v Pakistan, match drawn

Warm-up match: v Cricket Australia XI, November 15-16, WACA Ground

First Test: November 21-25, Gabba (Seven, Fox & Kayo)

Second Test: November 29 – December 3, Adelaide (d/n) (Seven, Fox & Kayo)