Finding the roots of the enigmatic Cummins
SYDNEY: “Dada” called Albie - Pat Cummins' three-year-old son - standing with his mother Becky Boston at the corner of the press conference room of the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday afternoon. “I’m here,” the Australian captain laughed, responding to his son before getting back to the media interaction.
Cummins was sitting there after becoming the first Australian captain to beat India in a ten series since 2014. He was also now the captain who holds all the bilateral Test trophies - Ashes included - the World Test Championship mace, and the ODI World Cup. He has won the T20 World Cup and the ODI WC as a player as well. There isn’t a thing that Cummins hasn’t achieved as a cricketer.
When asked about how what keeps him going, his answer was simple: “First of all I just absolutely love what I do. I mean that's probably the biggest driver in wanting to play Test Cricket and work with this team and support staff. I absolutely love everything about it. It's so much fun. If I could keep doing it for a little while, even better.”
That’s Pat Cummins for you. Eight years ago, Cummins had played just one Test match. The teen prodigy who had become the second youngest ever to make a Test debut for Australia in 2011 had been through a rollercoaster since. From being the Player of the match on Test debut against South Africa, Cummins had seen multiple back issues and stress fractures.
He redefined his bowling action with Dennis Lille, shifted focus to white ball cricket, won an ODI World Cup, even enrolled himself into the University of Technology, Sydney for a Bachelor's degree in Business. It had been a life in itself. He was not the prodigal son from Westmead who moved further from the city to Penrith before being fast-tracked to play Test cricket for Australia after playing three first-class matches.
On February 26, 2017, he was at the at the Howells Oval for the final of the Sydney one day premiership between Penrith Cricket Club and Hawkesbury. The opposition needed three runs from the final ball and running in was Pat Cummins for Penrith. Here, at the Howells Oval, the then 23-year-old ran in - there is an old clip on YouTube you might want to check - and hit the mark.
The Hawkesbury batters tried to run two but ended up falling short and Penrith won the title for the first time since 2001/02. “I know that that was something that he still looks back on and he's proud of,” Matthew Halse who has captained Cummins at Penrith told this daily.
“To win a first grade premiership is not easy. He's probably only played 18 games or 20 games at Penrith first grade over the years. He managed to sneak a first grade Premiership in those small number of games,” he added.
What started as a relentless run at the Howells Oval hasn’t stopped in eight years. About a week after that title win, Cummins made his first-class return for New South Wales after six years and soon he was on a flight to India for a Test match. That was in 2017.
It‘s 2025. Cummins is now the Test captain of the country. With 294 Test wickets at 22.43, Cummins has already earned his place in the hall of fame of all-time fast bowlers. It’s not just the wickets, every time a big moment came along, Cummins delivered. ODI WC final against India in Ahmedabad, check. WTC final against India, check.
He is tactically smart, respects opponents at the same time never overdoes the paise, knows how to walk the talk and do it all with a smile on his face.
Through this what has kept him in good stead is his groundedness which is something drilled into him from a very young age. “He was very quick, maybe faster than he is now, but a very mature cricketer,” Halse recalled.
“When his back was no good and he couldn't bowl he played purely as a batter for Penrith. And then the second time he had a good run was. He was bowling and that was just before he played his second Test match in India,” added Cummins’ former captain at Penrith.
As someone who has seen Cummins from the time he was 16, the Penrith man’s rise to the top comes as no surprise to Halse. He remembers the time when Cummins used to be frustrated about first grade cricket because the batters were not good enough to edge him.
They kept playing and missing. He doesn’t worry or get frustrated any more. Not because he bowls to international batters but because he doesn’t go looking for the outside edge.
On most days all he does is run in and try to hit the top of off-stump. Whether it was Rohit Sharma in Brisbane or KL Rahul in Melbourne this tour, Joe Root at Old Trafford during Ashes, the list of perfect dismissals go on as Cummins continue to make world class batters look like falling pins. “I think he's definitely become a very, very skilful bowler over time. He just seems to have a knack of hitting that top of off-stump and doing it to very good players as well,” Halse mentioned.
While being among the best bowlers of his generation, to be the leader and statesman that he has become, Cummins had worked every bit to learn and remember where he came from and who he is.
“For someone who didn't have a lot of captaincy experience, he has just, looking from the outside in, tried to do it his own way and stay true to the person he is. Like I said, his brothers played at Penrith as well, so know the family quite well. He's always kept himself pretty grounded.”
”We're incredibly proud of Pat and everything he's done, but just the person that he's remained, doing all that. I think for all the local kids growing up, it gives them someone to aspire to. If a kid from Penrith can make it all the way to the top, then why can't anyone else?”
Indeed. He has done what he was supposed to in two and a half days. Now his focus shifts to more important things in life. Cummins looks at his wife and son — they had just stepped out briefly - while sitting in the press conference room at the SCG, trying to explain what having here means to him.
“It's great having Albs and Becky, they're gone now, but yeah being able to bring them on tour. Once this Test match finishes, going back to being a full-time dad and husband, even a better job than being a Test captain, love it. So I feel very lucky.” That’s Pat Cummins for you.
