Last month, Cummins played his first season in Major League Cricket in the US. Cummins was signed by San Francisco Unicorns. In his first MLC appearance, Cummins played 6 matches and took 4 wickets.
Australia are scheduled to tour the UK next month, where they will play a three-match T20I series against Scotland starting on September 4, followed by a three-match T20I series against rivals England.
However, in order to manage Cummins’ workload ahead of the crucial home Test series against India, Cummins has not been selected in the squad that will travel to Scotland and England.
“Everyone who comes back after a break is a bit fresher, you never regret it,” Cummins told Fox Sports.
“Basically, I’ve been bowling non-stop since the World Test Championship final, almost 18 months ago. This gives me a good seven or eight weeks off bowling so the body can recover, and then I can start preparing again for the summer.
“That means you’ll hopefully be able to play for a little bit longer, keeping up the pace is a little bit easier and it makes you less susceptible to injury,” he added.
Cummins has had a busy last 12 months after fracturing his wrist towards the end of England’s Ashes campaign.
He played in an ODI series against India, the triumphant ODI World Cup campaign, three Tests against Pakistan, two Tests against West Indies, a T20 tour of New Zealand, two Tests against New Zealand, led Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League this year, the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the MLC tournament.
“I’m really sore today after a week in the gym. The hamstrings, even the ankles, build up after months of bowling, but you can’t bowl well when you’re in the middle of the season,” said the 31-year-old.
“I’m going to do a lot of gym, a bit of running, a lot of rehab exercise which you can’t do in the middle of the season.” This year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be a five-Test competition. Since 2017, Australia has failed to lift the trophy, with India having won four consecutive series, including historic triumphs on Australian soil in 2018-19 and 2020-21.
And Cummins is desperate to lift the trophy this summer under his captaincy.
“It’s a trophy I haven’t won before… this is the one trophy that a lot of our group haven’t gotten,” Cummins said.
“We have achieved some incredible things in the last few years as a Test group. You back yourself to win every series at home. I think you should try to be among the best teams.”
“That’s what we’re looking forward to this summer. They (India) are a really good team. We’ve played against them a lot, we know them very well, but we also feel that we’re in a very good position,” he added.
Cummins, meanwhile, is in no mood to give up T20 cricket just yet, and hopes to help Australia win gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where cricket will make its debut at the quadrennial exhibition.
“Watching the Olympics was exciting for all of us. You want to be a part of it from the start,” Cummins said.
“I’d love to be on that side (in LA28). I think I’ll be 35 or something like that, so I hope to still be there or thereabouts.
“It really feels like there’s a lot missing right now. Maybe when we get closer and start building it, everyone will get a little more excited,” he said.
(with PTI inputs)
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.