Australian wunderkind Pat Cummins may have been struck down with injury, but Andrew Bloxham predicts that he will be a matchwinner in the Test arena for years to come.
When South African maestro Dale Steyn is bowling with his tail up, it is safe to assume there is no specialist batsman in world cricket that enjoys the prospect of facing him. Unleashing swinging, accurate exocets in excess of 90mph, Steyn is a menacing presence.
In the second and final Test between South Africa and Australia at The Wanderers a last month, that is exactly the proposition 18-year-old paceman Pat Cummins was greeted with when walking to the wicket with his side 292-8 with 18 runs needed to win, and just two wickets remaining in Australia’s second innings.
One could have forgiven Cummins for thinking that this wasn’t part of his job description when he was picked to earn his first Test cap, but crucial passages of play in a high-pressure atmosphere are often where hot prospects sink or swim. Where more experienced and illustrious names had failed, Cummins took to his task with the fearlessness of youth, swiping Steyn and co for two boundaries on his way to making 13 not out and winning Australia the match and a share of this compelling and criminally short Test series.
His batting heroics were nevertheless only the icing on the cake of what was a terrific Test debut for the New South Wales man. Whilst Cummins had looked the most threatening Australian bowler in South Africa’s first innings, his modest return of 1-38 did him little justice. It was the second innings, however, where this rising star of Australian cricket really began to burn brightest.
One over in particular caught the eye as the tyro gave Jacques Kallis, a man who has made 40 Test centuries, an almighty working over, before removing the great man with an angled delivery outside off stump. The cunning old fox had been out-thought and out-smarted by the new cub on the block.
Australia, it must be remembered, were still busy peeling themselves from the canvas after that crushing and traumatic trouncing in Cape Town. This was a side carrying more issues than the average Jeremy Kyle Show line-up, and how it showed in Johannesburg.
Ricky Ponting was embroiled in his own almighty struggle for each and every run as he looked to finally post a score of note, Mitchell Johnson was bowling off a shortened run-up as an experimental means of gaining accuracy and swing, and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin had clearly decided that blazing his way back in to form through a series of audacious slogs and extravagant drives was the solution to his own batting woes.
A man whose only issue was how much carnage he could wreak on a stellar South African batting order was Pat Cummins. Experience is key in any sport, with participants constructing a mental portfolio that helps to sees them through the toughest of situations. This memory bank also contains the mental scars of past failures, however, which Cummins is yet to encounter.
Whilst his effect upon this particular Test match was undoubtedly critical, it is the wider impact that the emergence of Cummins has on Australian cricket which is likely to be the most resounding. In truth, Australia have struggled for a fast bowler with genuine quality and a real cutting edge since the retirement of the peerless Glenn McGrath.
Mitchell Johnson is a mercurial bowler capable of destroying the best of line-ups, but those performances have become all too infrequent of late and he is currently recovering from surgery on his left foot. Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle are what you would call solid performers that won’t let anybody down, but there is no doubt that a world-class attack needs a leader that oozes class and wicket-taking threat whenever the ball is in his hand. It is early days, but Cummins is well on his way to filling this void.
He bowls with a maturity well beyond his years, and is clearly a ‘thinking bowler’ always looking to out-smart batsmen. Such attributes were consistently on display throughout the T20 Champions League tournament where he found great success with New South Wales on the flat pitches of the Indian subcontinent. Tall, fast and with the ability to extract prodigious bounce from just back of a length, the raw materials of a fast bowler of the very highest bracket are there in abundance. Add to that the promising early signs that he has an ice cool temperament required for the big occasion, and Australia may just have unearthed a gem.
All Out Cricket has teamed up with sports forum 606 v2 to discuss the game with thousands of like-minded cricket fans. For friendly, informed debate, check out 606 v2 today.
Cummins Emergence Buoys Australian Hopes
Australian wunderkind Pat Cummins may have been struck down with injury, but Andrew Bloxham predicts that he will be a matchwinner in the Test arena for years to come.
When South African maestro Dale Steyn is bowling with his tail up, it is safe to assume there is no specialist batsman in world cricket that enjoys the prospect of facing him. Unleashing swinging, accurate exocets in excess of 90mph, Steyn is a menacing presence.
In the second and final Test between South Africa and Australia at The Wanderers a last month, that is exactly the proposition 18-year-old paceman Pat Cummins was greeted with when walking to the wicket with his side 292-8 with 18 runs needed to win, and just two wickets remaining in Australia’s second innings.
One could have forgiven Cummins for thinking that this wasn’t part of his job description when he was picked to earn his first Test cap, but crucial passages of play in a high-pressure atmosphere are often where hot prospects sink or swim. Where more experienced and illustrious names had failed, Cummins took to his task with the fearlessness of youth, swiping Steyn and co for two boundaries on his way to making 13 not out and winning Australia the match and a share of this compelling and criminally short Test series.
His batting heroics were nevertheless only the icing on the cake of what was a terrific Test debut for the New South Wales man. Whilst Cummins had looked the most threatening Australian bowler in South Africa’s first innings, his modest return of 1-38 did him little justice. It was the second innings, however, where this rising star of Australian cricket really began to burn brightest.
One over in particular caught the eye as the tyro gave Jacques Kallis, a man who has made 40 Test centuries, an almighty working over, before removing the great man with an angled delivery outside off stump. The cunning old fox had been out-thought and out-smarted by the new cub on the block.
Australia, it must be remembered, were still busy peeling themselves from the canvas after that crushing and traumatic trouncing in Cape Town. This was a side carrying more issues than the average Jeremy Kyle Show line-up, and how it showed in Johannesburg.
Ricky Ponting was embroiled in his own almighty struggle for each and every run as he looked to finally post a score of note, Mitchell Johnson was bowling off a shortened run-up as an experimental means of gaining accuracy and swing, and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin had clearly decided that blazing his way back in to form through a series of audacious slogs and extravagant drives was the solution to his own batting woes.
A man whose only issue was how much carnage he could wreak on a stellar South African batting order was Pat Cummins. Experience is key in any sport, with participants constructing a mental portfolio that helps to sees them through the toughest of situations. This memory bank also contains the mental scars of past failures, however, which Cummins is yet to encounter.
Whilst his effect upon this particular Test match was undoubtedly critical, it is the wider impact that the emergence of Cummins has on Australian cricket which is likely to be the most resounding. In truth, Australia have struggled for a fast bowler with genuine quality and a real cutting edge since the retirement of the peerless Glenn McGrath.
Mitchell Johnson is a mercurial bowler capable of destroying the best of line-ups, but those performances have become all too infrequent of late and he is currently recovering from surgery on his left foot. Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle are what you would call solid performers that won’t let anybody down, but there is no doubt that a world-class attack needs a leader that oozes class and wicket-taking threat whenever the ball is in his hand. It is early days, but Cummins is well on his way to filling this void.
He bowls with a maturity well beyond his years, and is clearly a ‘thinking bowler’ always looking to out-smart batsmen. Such attributes were consistently on display throughout the T20 Champions League tournament where he found great success with New South Wales on the flat pitches of the Indian subcontinent. Tall, fast and with the ability to extract prodigious bounce from just back of a length, the raw materials of a fast bowler of the very highest bracket are there in abundance. Add to that the promising early signs that he has an ice cool temperament required for the big occasion, and Australia may just have unearthed a gem.
All Out Cricket has teamed up with sports forum 606 v2 to discuss the game with thousands of like-minded cricket fans. For friendly, informed debate, check out 606 v2 today.