Are you ready, Pat? ‘I think so…’
Despite not playing any long format cricket for the better part of two years, Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins says he'll be ready to play if called into the side for the second Ashes Test at Lord's this week.
Cummins was called into the squad as a replacement for the retired Ryan Harris, and he could be given a go if Mitchell Starc's ankle injury does not heal in time, though latest reports indicate that his recovery is on track.
When asked if he was ready to step into the team for Lord's, the perpetually injured Cummins said on the CA website: "I think so…
"I haven't played a lot of red ball cricket in the last little while, but I've still played a lot of T20s and one-dayers and been bowling a lot, so in terms of my body I feel 100 per cent confident.
"In the last month or so I've been bowling with the red ball trying to rediscover swing and all those things that come with a first-class match and I've been really happy with where I am.
"So I haven't put it into a game yet but if a game comes up soon I feel pretty confident."
He added that he hadn't played much red ball cricket ahead of his debut four years ago either, and he still ended up taking a six-fer against South Africa.
Cummins said: "Back then, I hadn't played a first-class game for about six months and certainly the few days leading in (to his first Test) I was really nervous.
"I didn't know whether I was going to swing the ball and things like that.
"But when I played I kind of surprised myself."
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