Pat’s bumper threat

Speedster warns England they‘re in for a barrage

AUSTRALIAN paceman Pat Cummins says he is ready for the Ashes and is excited about exploring the pace and bounce of Australia’s wickets when he makes his home Test debut.

The 24-year-old also has a message for England’s batsmen, saying he hopes they’ve been facing plenty of shortpitched bowling in the nets.

Cummins had a sparkling Test debut in South Africa in 2011, aged just 18, before a series of injuries pushed him out of the international circuit.

His return this year has included two stints in India and two in Bangladesh. “Just playing a Test match in Australia will be a pretty weird feeling,” he said yesterday.

He also hopes it’ll be a bit weird for England’s batsmen, facing up on unfamiliar pitch- es. “I think no one really likes it if you’ve got real pace and real accuracy,” Cummins said.

“But I think especially those kind of guys, they play on slower wickets, not as much bounce. So over here and in South Africa as well, that’s probably one of our biggest strengths as batsmen — we grew up on these wickets and, as bowlers, getting bounce has always been really important.

“So I think just trying to make it as different to their home conditions as possible, and normally bouncy, fast wickets and short balls are definitely that.”

His message for the soon to be touring batsmen?

“Hope you practise your bouncers because we’ll be bowling a lot of them, I think,” Cummins said.

The right-arm quick said he’s now feeling “really good” physically. Winning a place in the Ashes squad was “one of the main reasons why I came back from the T20 series . . . to try and rest up, get a week or two of lighter load before we start gearing up for the Shield games and for the Ashes”.

Cummins said taking on England this summer would be particularly notable.

“I’ve just been watching as a fan, so to go out there would be, I think, doubly special,” he said.