Langer on Cummins: 'Not humanly possible for him to play in all Tests'

Australia are currently leading the five-Test showdown 1-0, and Cummins had a significant part to play in their remarkable come-from-behind win at Edgbaston, snaring four second-innings wickets – and seven in the match – to wipe out England for 146 and send them crashing to a 251-run defeat.

However, in the face of increased scrutiny around workload management, and a horses-for-courses selection policy, Cummins might have to do with occupying the bench at some point, irrespective of the magnitude of his performances.

Over the last couple of years, the fast bowler has put behind a brittle, injury-prone body to transform into a relentless bowling machine for Australia. Since January 2017, he has been the team’s most workmanlike pacer, playing 20 Tests – more than any other frontline Australian fast bowler in this period – and has sent down 734 overs, 47 more than second-best Josh Hazlewood.

Langer said that he would like to see the 26-year-old play all five Tests, but acknowledged that it simply may not be feasible. "In theory, you would like him to play all five Tests," Langer said at Lord's on Sunday, 11 August. "Those back-to-back Test matches depends a lot on how much he bowls.

“He bowled the most overs [among Australia’s fast bowlers] in the first Test, but depends on how the game goes and how many overs he bowls, on how much batting there is in between [bowling innings], whether we've bowled last or we've bowled in the third innings of the game. All those things will come into it. You'd like him to play all five, but I am not sure it's humanly possible."

Should injury strike Cummins, however, Australia have plenty of depth to fall back on. So strong is their pool of resources that Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, two of their premier red-ball bowlers, did not make the XI at Edgbaston.

Starc is likely to return at Lord’s, but with a core also possessing the reinvigorated James Pattinson and veteran Peter Siddle, who is coming off a successful County season, Australia wouldn’t be sweating much in the event that Cummins is forced to miss a Test or two.

"You also have Josh Hazlewood, who has played 40-odd Tests and is a gun, and Mitch Starc, who took 10 wickets in his last Test match,” Langer said. "They're all there and we've talked about having the squad of fast bowlers."

As for Cummins himself, the pacer, who prides himself on his ability to tirelessly run in and bowl long spells, made no qualms about the fact that he would like to go the distance and play all five games.

"I think everyone would like to play all five," he said. "I think it's one of those things, where it's just great that we've got that flexibility, so I think every game you're going to pick your best three bowlers you think are going to win that match.

"I guess we're lucky we've got six guys here who are a real chance of playing every game. Personally, I'll be hoping to play every game, and if I'm fully fit and bowling well, I expect to. But it's good we've got plenty of bowlers here."