Australia's World Cup quicks set to remain key in Test summer
Australia's World Cup-winning skipper Pat Cummins hinted at little to no rest for Australia's all-format quicks, including himself, in a season filled with lots of Test cricket.
With Australia set to take on Pakistan in a two-match Test series in mid-December, Cummins expressed that "you never miss a Test if you are fully fit", basically underlining that the title-winning quicks from India would likely start with the red ball in the first Test in Perth that begins on 14 December.
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"Realistically the word rest and rotated gets thrown around a lot but you never miss a Test if you are fully fit," Cummins said at the Sydney Cricket Ground where he brought the World Cup trophy.
"While over the last couple of years, we might have been rested from the odd game, the bulk of work we've been able to do is because of those small gaps. If we are fully fit we won't be resting."
Australia sit third on the World Test Championship table with two wins and two losses and have a home series against West Indies and a two-match away series against New Zealand before April to follow the Pakistan Tests.
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"You are always dealing with something as a bowler," he said, saying the quicks would be raring to go if not injured.
"When your hamstring starts to feel then you feel a pain somewhere else, then you wake up the next day and it's moved somewhere else."
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Cummins also stated that he has started getting better as a captain and Mitchell Starc, who was alongside him at the SCG, agreed with his skipper.
"I definitely get better with captaincy every game, absolutely," Cummins said.
"You learn so much in your wins, and even more so in your losses. No doubt I'm getting better."
Starc went on to praise Cummins, stating that captaincy was a key factor behind Australia's triumph in the World Cup.
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"He's been phenomenal – the last few months have spoken to that," Starc said.
"He certainly had his critics. There's an opinion that [captaincy] has to be done a certain way. Pat's never been fazed by that or outside noise. A lot of [team's success] has to do with the way Pat captained through the World Cup, particularly that last game.
"Things were done differently and bravely, and we're standing here with the trophy."
