Cummins is ravenous and determined for the difficult English summer

Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, intends to play all six Tests on the current UK tour, beginning with the World Test Championship Final against India before leading the team in the five-match Ashes series against England.

The first game of the Ashes will commence on June 16, four days after the scheduled conclusion of the WTC final. The five games will be played in a compressed schedule of just over six weeks, with less time between each test. Cummins stated that, despite the likelihood of rotation during the red-ball tour, he would prefer not to be the one left out.

Cummins responded, “I mean, it’s a balance,” when asked if he could play all six positions. “I’ve been fatigued and depleted in the past but still felt like I did an excellent job. But if that sort of topic comes up at any point, it’s a conversation. I intend to play all six, and there are decent pauses in between each pair of two Test matches here. So I believe it is feasible. But clearly, Cam Green’s ability to bowl a large number of overs also helps,” the 30-year-old continued.

The WTC final, which commences on Wednesday (June 7), will be Cummins’ 50th Test—an accomplishment he’s quite proud of considering the succession of back injuries he’s had to overcome.

“I always consider longevity to be as significant a feat as average or strike rates or anything else related to performance,” said Cummins. “Test cricket is demanding. You play around the globe under various conditions. It is physically demanding. As a result, being a fast bowler who plays 50 is something to be quite pleased with. Particularly because it felt like [another Test match] was a long way off for the past five or six years.”

Cummins was forced to wait nearly five and a half years to play his second Test match for Australia after making his debut in Johannesburg in 2011. His chronic back issues made even the shorter stints of white-ball formats difficult.

“I thought getting back into Test cricket was so far away for a lot of that,” he stated. “I believed I could play T20 or one-day cricket, but after 10 overs per day, my body felt like it had been in a car accident. In retrospect, all the physiotherapists and individuals who experienced this before me were spot-on. You will eventually turn a corner and be correct. However, when you’re in your fifth cycle of stress fractures, 50 tests seem like an eternity away.

Glenn MCGrath is the only pace bowler in the elite company of 14 Australian cricketers who have played 100 Tests. Cummins, who is 30 years old, wants to play red-ball cricket for as long as his body permits, but he insists he is not looking too far ahead.

Cummins, when asked how many tests he had left, responded, “I wish I wasn’t already halfway through.” However, we will wait and see. Since I have had two or three months off, I am feeling better than I have in two or three years. Each series is composed of another series. But I have just reached 30. Binga continued to compete into his mid-30s. Starcy and Josh are three or four years older than I am and are still in good physical condition. So we’ll see how we go.”