Cummins finally gains Test at home
IT’S the homecoming that has been a lifetime in the making and one that Pat Cummins feared may never arrive.
There are overseas grounds that Cummins might have set foot on more often than the SCG, but tomorrow, after years of heartache, the superstar fast bowler will discover for the first time what it’s like to play a Test match on his home soil.
Born and raised in Penrith, Cummins is a Sydney boy right down to his bootlaces, and of all the “comeback” matches he’s played over the last 10 months, none have meant as much as an Ashes Test at the SCG.
At the start of the summer, the SCG might as well have been Everest, so unsure was Cummins even in his own mind about whether his body was capable of getting through five consecutive Test matches.
But after going nearly six years without playing a Test after his famous debut in South Africa back in 2011, Cummins’ finally appears to have put his injury woes behind him.
Aside from four one-day matches and a couple of Sheffield Shield games for NSW, Cummins has scarcely been able to charge in at the SCG.
Tomorrow, the 24-year-old says he’s ready to fulfil a boyhood dream.
“I’m pretty pumped. I’ve got a lot of family and friends coming out for the game,” Cummins says.
“It’s our home ground where we train all the time. I haven’t played too many games here but it’s pretty special whenever we get out here.
Australia lead the series 3-0 despite England getting a look in every match so far.