Australia will play up to 21 Tests in 12 months, and their fit-and-firing skipper hopes he won’t have to rest from any of them
Pat Cummins is holding out hope he can play the entirety of Australia’s busiest 12 months on record but admits it would be “very surprising” if each of the nation’s ‘Big Three’ quicks managed to.
The Test captain has pulled up well on return from the IPL, where he played his first competitive matches in four months after a back injury curtailed his Ashes.
“Body feels awesome,” Cummins said at a media event for Amazon Prime’s coverage of the women’s T20 World Cup, beginning on June 12.
“I got a scan, all sweet, so now it’s the next step up, which is getting ready to bowl 20 overs in a day and wake up and do it again in a Test match.”
Cummins will gradually increase his bowling loads throughout June and July in preparation for a 12 month-period that will feature up to 21 Tests.
The hectic chapter begins with two home matches against Bangladesh in August.
By the following August, the Test side will have returned to South Africa for the first time since the 2018 Newlands ball-tampering saga, embarked upon a legacy-defining tour of India and fought to retain the Ashes in England.
They will also play a home series against New Zealand, the 150th anniversary Test at the MCG and potentially the World Test Championship final at Lord’s, if qualified.
Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood typically plan to feature in every Test match of a home summer. Cummins acknowledged things may be different this time, but still hoped to be on deck for every Test.
“The lucky thing is I haven’t played much in the past year, so I’m actually coming in physically as good as I possibly could be,” Cummins said.
“I’m hoping that I play all of them, but I’m sure things will pop up along the way.
“It’d be very surprising if the same three bowlers played in 21 of the Tests … there might be a little bit of chopping and changing. It’s kind of unprecedented.”
Back-up pacemen Scott Boland, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson and Brendan Doggett filled the void when injuries struck Hazlewood and Cummins over the 4-1 Ashes win last summer.
Cummins conceded white-ball cricket will need to take a back seat in order to achieve his goal of playing every Test.
The Aussies are planning to have their ODI skipper as well as Starc and Hazlewood leading their 50-over World Cup title defence in southern Africa in October-November next year, but the number of ODIs they play in the lead up may be limited.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald has insisted none of the trio wanted to skip this month’s white-ball tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh but have instead been told to rest given the Test-heavy schedule to come.
“It’s prioritising the Test matches and then outside of that, there won’t be too much,” Cummins said.
“There’s some white-ball cricket but I think some of that might be how you pull up from the Test matches.”
Cummins said he will evaluate his involvement in next year’s IPL – which falls between a five-Test tour of India and the Ashes – closer to the time, while none of the nation’s Test players are likely to feature in the BBL this coming summer given the squad will depart for India only days after their four-Test home series against New Zealand is scheduled to finish.
Cummins insisted the ultra-accurate Hazlewood remained a crucial cog in Australia’s red-ball side after hamstring and Achilles tendon injuries sidelined him for the entire Ashes series.
The 35-year-old has played just 10 of Australia’s last 20 Tests but returned in April to help Royal Challengers Bengaluru win this year’s IPL – his second straight title with the franchise.
“The hardest thing for someone like Josh is actually getting up and going again,” Cummins said. “He’s had a few little niggles as he’s been building back up, so it’s been great to see him play a lot of cricket.”
NRMA Insurance Bangladesh Test series
First Test: August 13-17, Marrara Stadium Darwin, 10am (local)
Second Test: August 22-26, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 10am (local)
