The threat of a burnout runs large for Pat Cummins who has featured in all three Ashes 2019 Tests so far against England but the Australia pacer is in no mood to relinquish his spot for the remainder of the series.
Cummins was greatly hampered by injury troubles in the early part of his career but the pacer has shown tremendous fitness since coming back in 2017 and has not consolidated his grip at the top of the ICC rankings.
The 26-year-old fast bowler is currently leading the wicket-taking charts in the Ashes with 17 scalps in three matches and he is determined to feature in the fourth and final Tests at Old Trafford and the Oval respectively.
“I’m feeling really good actually,” Cummins said about his fitness levels to cricket.com.au after Australia’s one-wicket loss at Headingley.
“If you’d asked me that a few months ago after the World Cup and three Tests, I would have thought I’d be a bit more tired and rundown than I’m feeling now.
“So I’ll have a bit of a break after this and be right for Manchester, then see how we go.”
Cummins was one of the Aussie bowlers to cop some serious punishment in the second innings at Leeds when Stokes went full-throttle with the pacer returning with figures of 1-80. Despite Australia’s setback at Headingley after the stunning assault by Stokes, Cummins is satisfied with the displays of Australia’s pace battery in the series and his confident that the Leeds result remains an aberration.
“I think the most pleasing thing for us, one we bowled really well, but also I feel like we’ve got really good plans and processes to all of them,” the Aussie speedster stater.
“Ben Stokes obviously had a day out and was probably playing more like one-day cricket towards the end there but we saw on the third day they batted for 70 overs and we kept them to two runs an over and always felt like we were in the game.
“All three games we’ve been in a match-winning position so we know how to do 99 per cent of it. Hopefully we can get over the line in the next one.”
Stokes’ sensational innings thwarted Australia’s hopes of retaining the Ashes on English soil for the first time since 2001. With the five-match series now level at 1-1, the visitors and Cummins will be hoping to bounce back at Manchester when the fourth Ashes Test gets underway on September 4.
