Australian Test captain, Pat Cummins, who last month completed his Major League Cricket (MLC) stint in the United States, will be given a well-deserved break from its upcoming white-ball tours of Scotland and England in early June. With an eye on workload management, Cummins is set to briefly return to domestic cricket in the Sheffield Shield before working on his form ahead of the marquee Test series against India, starting November.
Cummins said the call discussed his situation with Andrew McDonald, coach of the men’s team for Australia, a few days ago. This has led to a discussion on how to strike an adequate balance of rest and preparation in such a way that will make sure Cummins is in his best shape for the test facing him. “Ronnie [Andrew McDonald] gave me a call the other day and said we need to chat about this. I like going actually a little bit fresher, but certainly cricket going into it,” Pat Cummins told News Corp.
The fast bowler also provided hints regarding his intended schedule ahead of the Test series. He said he is likely to play a combination of two or three ODIs and a Sheffield Shield match, or maybe just domestic cricket with NSW, to be fully prepared for the highly demanding Test matches later this year.
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“I’d say it’s either two or three ODIs, plus a Shield [game], or maybe just some Shield, maybe some NSW one-day stuff. I imagine kind of late October/early November will be when I start playing, building up for the Tests,” Pat Cummins said further.
Pat Cummins has his eyes on this time out from international cricket to work on strength and conditioning. He said it was an important phase and that he would strictly follow a program in the gym and on the track to regain strength and stamina. “So I’ll have a good six or eight weeks off bowling where I’ll get in the gym every day, do some running, and get some strength back into my body,” Cummins said.
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Australia’s next seven Test matches are important because that may be the only way to ensure they get to Lord’s next June in the final of the World Test Championship. The Aussies have current bragging rights, though they sit in second position on the points table to India. With that, Cummins will be eyeing to make a telling difference, hoping the strategic rest and build-up phase would work wonders for his leadership to continue ennobling with all the vigor and elan characteristic of his captaincy thus far.
