England forewarned ahead of Ashes
SYDNEY. — Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins has told England’s batsmen to prepare themselves for the barrage of short-pitched bowling that awaits them when the Ashes cricket series begins next month.
The 24-year-old was brought home early from Australia’s ongoing limited overs tour of India to prepare for the Ashes where he is likely to partner Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in a tall and fiery pace battery.
“Hope you practise your bouncers because we’ll be bowling a lot of them,” Cummins told reporters in Sydney yesterday in a warning to Joe Root’s side.
“No one really likes it if you’ve got real pace and real accuracy,” added the right-armer, who, like Starc, is capable of regularly exceeding 150 kph.
”They play on slower wickets, not as much bounce, so over here . . . it’s one of our biggest strengths.
“We grow up on these wickets and as bowlers getting bounce has always been really important.
“I think we’re lucky that there’s a few of us who are all pretty tall and get a bit of bounce and like to bowl with a bit of pace.
“Hopefully the wickets have a bit of pace and bounce in them, there’s nothing like getting your adrenalin up and then running in trying to bowl short.”
Cummins made a sensational test debut as an 18-year-old in South Africa six years ago but has since had his career blighted by injury, particularly to his back, and has played just four further tests and a smattering of limited overs internationals.
Due to those injuries, the fivetest Ashes series, which starts on Nov. 23 at the Gabba in Brisbane, would be Cummins first test matches on home soil and he said he was keen to make a similar impression to that which Mitchell Johnson made on the 2013-14 tour.
“To watch ‘Johno’ do what he did, (he) kept the whole morale of the side and Australia up against the Poms almost single-handedly,” Cummins said of the left armer, who took 37 wickets at 13.97 as Australia swept the series 5-0.