Cummins feels right at home after summer free of injury

AUSSIE quick Pat Cummins feels like he belongs after completing his biggest 12 months of cricket.

Injury ravaged Cummins for five years after his Test debut as a 18- year- old tearaway in 2011 but his slow build after his return last summer turned into a full on assault through 2017.

He started with Twenty20s in February, made his Test return in India in March, carried the fast bowling load in Bangadesh before topping the wicket count with 23 English scalps during the Ashes.

Cummins said completing the seven- week, five Test slog was “the best thing” because getting through unscathed was the greatest challenge his rebuilt body was going to face.

“It’s a cycle of feeling totally cooked, feeling like you can’t bowl much more, having a rest, then getting up for the next innings,” Cummins wrote on the Players Voice website.

“By day 25, you’re wrecked, but it’s amazing what your body can do with a result on the line. You somehow find another level.

“I feel like I belong in the Australian team now. Previously, I’d play a game here or there and felt like I did OK. But being an Australian cricketer is about performing consistently and being able to deliver in back- to- back- to- back matches.”