The day before the third Ashes Test, Australia captain Pat Cummins was all smiles, except when he dwelled on the horrific shooting incident in Bondi, Sydney. Primed to feature in his first Test of the battle of the urn, that Australia leads 2-0, he detailed the rigorous rehabilitation that fast-tracked his return faster than he, or his doctors, had anticipated.
Preliminary observations of doctors projected a healing time of four months, after he sustained a stress injury on the back, which put him out of action for 16 weeks. “We had a pathway that you need to do when you come back from a stress injury like that,” Cummins told reporters on Tuesday. “So I had 16 weeks completely off bowling, made sure the bone heals really well. It’s looking good.” he added.
Then, with the Ashes in mind, he notched up a gear or two in training. “From there it’s ramping up. And normally you try and ramp up … maybe over three or four months. But obviously it was the Ashes. So we set on a pretty aggressive plan to get up in six or seven weeks.”
He was surprised with his progress rates. “It went better than I thought. I got asked a million times in the off-season: ‘Are you going to play?’ I genuinely didn’t know because as long as everything tracked well, I would be in this position. But we also knew you have got to tread lightly around some of these injuries and if there was a flare-up or setback, I wouldn’t have played or risked it … luckily, things have played out pretty well,” he recollected.
At the same time, he couldn’t rush the comeback because he has a chronic history of back injuries. He sustained a series of those in his late teens that robbed nearly five of his Test career, required multiple surgeries, a slightly remodelled action and pep talks from former legends such as Dennis Lillee and Mitchell Johnson. But since then, he has gone on to forge a stellar career.
His return, though, would disrupt a pace pack that had held admirably in his absence, donning important roles in setting up wins in Perth and Brisbane. He praised his colleagues. It’s incredible. It shows just great depth in the Aussie cricket system at the moment with fast bowlers. It has almost worked out perfectly: we’re halfway through a series and I come back online and we have got Nes [Michael Neser] and Doggy [Brendan Doggett], who are resting from this week but have obviously got themselves into the series, and they will look to the last two games,” he reflected.
However, his return would ease the heavy-lifting duties on Mitchell Starc, who has snared 18 wickets this series, which is nearly half of England’s wickets. “It’s been fantastic to watch and I think it’s lived up to the hype,” Cummins said. “It’s been captivating every session. I’ve loved it and I am itching to get out there.”
