AUSTRALIA will be sweating on Pat Cummins staying healthy this summer, after an overcrowded schedule was confirmed on Friday that sees the national Twenty20 side playing in Adelaide the day before the Test team takes the field in India.
The last of a three-game T20 series against Sri Lanka will wind up on February 22, only for a four Test series against India to kick off the very next day in a different time zone in Pune.
Serious questions are being asked about the validity of T20 internationals that hold no possibility Australia can pick a full-strength side, although Cummins could be an exception to the rule, as one of the country’s best bowlers who isn’t currently being considered for Tests.
It’s not the first time such a scenario has played out, Tests and T20s coinciding two summers ago when Australia were in the UAE. And it appears the controversial concept of Australia playing in two places at once is here to stay unless the players via their Cricketers Association are able to negotiate a reduction in matches in the next MOU.
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If the T20 side was to crumble against Sri Lanka in February it could be an embarrassment for Australian cricket, and fast bowling star Cummins shapes as a key man.
Cummins continued his outstanding return to cricket in the Matador Cup, following 12 months out injured, taking 3-46 for NSW as the hosts bowled Victoria out for 242 with three balls to spare in the first innings of the elimination semi-final at Drummoyne Oval.
The 23-year-old is now the second-highest wicket-taker for the Matador, with 14 scalps at an impressive average of 16. And he did it playing only five games compared to top wicket-taker Cameron Valente who has 15 wickets from six appearances.
Aaron Finch made 51 from 36 for Victoria yesterday and he looms as the likely T20 captain when Steve Smith and David Warner are on Test duty.
Cricket Australia says it will take a conservative approach with Cummins this summer, with Test cricket unlikely to be on the menu for the foreseeable future.
It’s not out of the question that Cummins’ long-awaited Test return could be in India in February, but that seems unlikely given the nature of the wickets that will be prepared.
White ball cricket will be Cummins’ main goal in the coming months and he would be the perfect spearhead for an understrength Twenty20 side come the Sri Lanka series.
Australia’s 5-0 drubbing in the recent ODI series in South Africa illustrated how limited the fast bowling depth is once there’s a few injuries.
With Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood to lead the Test side, Australia will be desperately hoping a weapon of Cummins’ calibre will be at their disposal.
After the Matador Cup, Cummins will go back to second XI cricket for NSW and grade cricket, but will be an almost certain selection for a series of ODIs against New Zealand in December.
Meanwhile, India has announced they will finally trial using DRS in their upcoming Test series against England, a pointer to the technology possibly being used against Australia next year.