Tag: Pat Cummins

Australia’s Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins was handed the Sir Garfield Sobers trophy for winning the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2023.

The trophy was handed over to Pat Cummins by legendary batsman Ricky Ponting at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

“It gives me great pleasure to present the ICC Men’s International Cricketer of the Year Award to none other than Australian Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins,” stated Ponting in a video released by the apex cricketing body.

“Congratulations buddy. Very well deserved. A magnificent year for you and for your team,” Ponting lauded Cummins.

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Pat Cummins led his country to a great year as captain of both the Test and One Day International teams, defeating India at The Oval to win the World Test Championship, followed by a victory over the same opponent in the ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad.

Individually, Pat Cummins had a productive year. He took 42 Test wickets at 27.50, scoring 254 runs as the team in white won a Test in India and retained the Ashes away from home.

Cummins was instrumental in Australia’s World Cup success, taking 15 wickets while also contributing significantly with the bat (128 runs at 32) down the order.

With a T20 World Cup triumph in 2024, Australia have the opportunity to win both the white-ball World Cup and the World Test Championship.

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Pat Cummins ruled out the prospect of Australia underperforming against Scotland in a bid to oust rivals England from the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, saying it would be against the “spirit of cricket.”

Bowling spearhead Josh Hazlewood caused controversy this week when he said it would be in Australia’s interests for reigning champions England to be out of the competition.

Australia have already secured their place in the next round, the Super 8s and he suggested they could ease up in their closing Group B game against Scotland this weekend to engineer their bitter rivals’ exit.

That scenario now appears less likely after England crushed Oman by eight wickets on Thursday to move above Scotland on net run rate with a final game to come against Namibia.

In this case, if England beat Namibia then Scotland will have to overcome Australia to qualify for the Super Eight.

England coach Matthew Mott — an Australian — said he hoped Hazlewood was joking and Australia’s Test and one-day skipper Cummins assured him that the bowler was.

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“When you go out and play you’re trying your best every time. And if you’re not, it’s probably against the spirit of cricket,” Pat Cummins told reporters in St Lucia.

“I don’t think you can (go into a game not trying to win) -– ever. You’re playing an international game in the middle of a World Cup.

“You still want to try and have a good game and carry that on into the Super Eights. I’ve never stepped onto the field without the mindset of being aggressive like the guys have so far.”

Cummins said he had spoken to Hazlewood and the comments were tongue-in-cheek and “got taken a bit out of context.”

“We’ll go out there and try to play Scotland, who have had a really good tournament so far, so it’s going to be tough,” he said.

“It’s something you discuss as one of the quirks of the set-up, but it does it change the way we play? Absolutely not.

“I’ve never stepped into the field without the mindset of trying to take the game on and be aggressive like the guys have so far.”

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Australian captain Pat Cummins has been named the leading men’s cricketer in the world by Wisden Almanack, while England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt was named the leading women’s cricketer on Tuesday.

Cummins was recognised by Wisden for a stellar 2023 in which the fast bowler led Australia to a World Test Championship (WTC) final win over India.

His side retained the Ashes before he captained them to their record sixth ODI World Cup title, defeating undefeated India in the final in Ahmedabad.

The 30-year-old paceman was the first Australian to win this award since Michael Clarke in 2012.

“After captaining Australia to success in the World Test Championship, Pat Cummins retained the Ashes – thanks in no small part to his late-order runs in the first Test at Edgbaston – then led Australia to victory in the World Cup final in India,” said Wisden editor Lawrence Booth.

“In 2023, no other seamer in world cricket took more than his 42 Test wickets.”

Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack has been published continually on an annual basis since its first edition in 1864.

Meanwhile, Nat Sciver-Brunt was named the leading women’s cricketer in the world after three ODI hundreds in five Ashes innings.

Wisden also names five Cricketers of the Year, an award that can only be won once in a career and is generally based on performances in the previous English season.

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Three of the latest recipients – Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc and Ashleigh Gardner, are all Australia internationals and played in the men’s and women’s Ashes last year.

Opening batsman Khawaja was honoured for topping the run-scoring charts in the Ashes with 496 runs at 49.60.

Fast bowler Starc claimed 23 wickets at an average of 27.08 during the Ashes, followed by 16 wickets during the ODI World Cup in India, resulting in him earning the honours.

Moreover, Gardner was recognised for taking 12 wickets in holders Australia’s victory in the one-off Women’s Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.

She became the tenth female recipient of the honour, and the first Australian woman since 2020. All-rounder Ellyse Perry was the last Australian to be named the Cricketer of the Year by Wisden.

The other two Cricketers of the Year were the England duo of Harry Brook and Mark Wood.

“Wood turned the Ashes on its head,” Booth said. “He topped 96mph, took five for 34, and pushed Australia on the back foot, literally and figuratively.”

“In all, he claimed 14 wickets at just 20 apiece as England came from 2-0 down to square the series.”

There was more Australian success when it came to the Wisden Trophy for Test performance of the year, with Travis Head recognised for his decisive 163 in the WTC final against India at The Oval.

West Indies’ Hayley Matthews became the first woman to be named the leading T20 cricketer of the year, owing to her brilliant performances.

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MELBOURNE: Australia’s captain Pat Cummins to Pakistan Cricket Team Director Mohammad Hafeez remarks regarding the better team of the Boxing Day Test.

The enthralling Boxing Day Test between Pakistan and Australia concluded on the fourth day when Pakistan, in pursuit of 317, bundled out on 237 in the second innings.

The touring side was at one stage in a comfortable position to seal a historic victory when they required a further 100 runs with five wickets in hand.

However, Mohammad Rizwan’s debated dismissal off Pat Cummins opened the floodgates for Pakistan and they collapsed from 219/5 to 237 all out.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Team Director Mohammad Hafeez not only criticized the umpiring in the Boxing Day Test but also claimed that the touring side played “better than the other team”.

“The whole game, I will sum up, our Pakistan team played better than the other team in general,” stated Hafeez.

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Later in the post-match press conference, Pat Cummins reacted to Mohammad Hafeez’s remarks and highlighted the end result with a witty smile.

“Ahhhh. Cool. They played well. I am glad we got the win,” stated Cummins.

“It doesn’t really matter, does it? It is the team who wins at the end,” he added.

For the unversed, Australia took an unassailable 2-0 lead over Pakistan in the three-match Test series with a 79-run victory in the second Test.

The two sides will now square off in the third Test in Sydney, scheduled to commence on January 3.

Australia Test squad

Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, David Warner.

Pakistan Test squad

Shan Masood (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafiq, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Sajid Khan.

READ: Stuart Broad, Marcus Trescothick named in New Year’s Honours

MELBOURNE: Australia’s captain Pat Cummins revealed the game plan behind the ball he bowled to dismiss former Pakistan captain Babar Azam on the second day of the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Wednesday.

Pat Cummins dismissed Babar Azam with a back-of-a-length ball just outside off-stump, which swung inwards and rattled the stumps through Azam’s defence.

Cummins opened up about the tactics behind the ball which sent Babar Azam back to the pavilion during the post-match press conference.

“It’s a dream ball – that’s what you try and bowl most balls, but it’s rare that it comes off. Really happy with that one,” said Cummins.

“That wasn’t a deliberate ball to seam in. That’s 50-50, whether it’s going to seam in or out. I try and create a bit of an angle, and if I don’t know what it’s doing, hopefully, the batter doesn’t know either.”

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“Swing is a bit more predictable – the batter sees it a bit earlier and the margins are a bit smaller. I try and swing the odd one but it’s rare – most of the time, I’m trying to get a bit of seam off the wicket,” he concluded.

Babar Azam has been struggling on the Australian tour with scores of 21 and 14 during the Perth Test, which was followed by a score of 1 during the ongoing second Test.

While Pat Cummins led Australian bowling with the figures of 3-37 to reduce Pakistan to 194-6 at the stumps of the second day, after the hosts were bowled for 318 earlier in the day.

Pakistan will resume their innings on the third day with Mohammad Rizwan (29) and Aamir Jamal (2) on the crease, while Australia is leading by 124 runs.

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Australia captain Pat Cummins threw his support behind star opener Usman Khawaja Monday, saying his bid to bring attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was “not offensive”.

Usman Khawaja has been denied permission by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to have a sticker showing a black dove holding an olive branch on his bat and shoes during the second Test against Pakistan.

The logo, which he displayed during training on Sunday, also had the words 01:UDHR — a reference to Article One of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — written on it.

The 36-year-old, a Muslim, was stopped from wearing shoes emblazoned with the hand-written slogans “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” during the first Test in Perth.

The ICC said they flouted its rules on messages that relate to politics, religion or race.

“We really support Uzzy. He’s standing up for what he believes and I think he’s done it really respectfully,” Pat Cummins told reporters on the eve of the Test in Melbourne.

“As I said last week, ‘All lives are equal’, I don’t think that’s very offensive and I’d say the same about the dove.

“That’s Uzzy. I think he can really hold his head high with the way he’s gone about it.

“But obviously there’s rules in place and I believe the ICC have said they’re not going to approve that. They make up the rules and you’ve got to accept it.”

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Usman Khawaja wore a black armband during the Perth Test and was reprimanded by the ICC, but insisted it was for a “personal bereavement” and not politically-motivated.

Last week, he spoke about how the Israel-Hamas conflict had affected him.

“When I’m looking at my Instagram and seeing innocent kids, videos of them dying, passing away, that’s what hit me the hardest,” he said.

“I don’t have any agendas other than trying to shine a light on what I feel really passionately, really strongly about.”

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Australian opening batter Usman Khawaja will not wear shoes with messages highlighting the plight of people in Gaza when the first Test against Pakistan begins on Thursday, captain Pat Cummins said.

During training this week the 36-year-old opening batsman Usman Khawaja had hand-written slogans “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” on his shoes.

The Pakistan-born Khawaja had reportedly said he would wear the shoes for the opening Test in Perth.

But Cummins told reporters on Wednesday: “I spoke to him just quickly and he said he won’t be.

“Just kind of drew attention to the ICC rules, which I don’t know if Uzzie (Khawaja) was across beforehand.

“Uzzie doesn’t want to make too big of a fuss.”

Governing body the International Cricket Council bans any messages during matches that relate to politics, religion or race.

Four days ago, Khawaja shared a video on Instagram from the children’s charity UNICEF from Gaza.

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In the post, Khawaja, who is Muslim, commented: “Do people not care about innocent humans being killed?

“Or is it the colour of their skin that makes them less important? Or the religion they practise?

“These things should be irrelevant if you truly believe that ‘we are all equal’.”

Speaking earlier Wednesday, Australian Sports Minister Anika Wells said she believed Khawaja’s shoes did not break ICC rules.

“I think he has done it in a peaceful and respectful way,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted her as saying.

Cricket Australia said in a statement that it supported “the right of our players to express personal opinions.

“But the ICC has rules in place which prohibit the display of personal messages, which we expect the players to uphold.”

In 2014 the ICC banned England all-rounder Moeen Ali from wearing wristbands saying “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” during a home Test.

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Australia captain Pat Cummins described the ICC World Cup 2023 as the “most physically taxing” format for fast bowlers as batters piled up record scores around India.

With just six of 45 days ticked off, the 2023 tournament has already seen South Africa score the highest-ever World Cup total of 428.

That came against Sri Lanka in New Delhi where the two innings produced a tournament record 754 runs.

Aiden Markram clubbed the fastest World Cup century in 49 balls in that game while, on Tuesday, Pakistan chased down a record target of 345 to beat Sri Lanka.

In a further bout of misery for bowlers, 10 centuries have been scored over the first eight games.

“It’s actually quite a physical format, I find it probably the most physically taxing if you’re playing two or three games in a week,” said Cummins ahead of their second World Cup match against South Africa on Thursday.

“We’re doing 15kms in a 50-over match. I think in T20, if you bowl one really good over, that can be match-winning.

“In one-day cricket, that’s not normally the case. And it’s rare that the conditions are really in the bowler’s favour, which is fine. It’s just a challenge you’ve got to try and deal with.”

Sri Lankan bowlers have supplied a snapshot of the challenge described by Pat Cummins.

In their loss to South Africa, seamers Kasun Rajitha and Matheesha Pathirana conceded 185 runs between them.

Pathirana suffered again as Pakistan ran riot in Hyderabad on Tuesday, giving away another 90 runs in his 10 overs.

Five-time champions Australia suffered a six-wicket loss to India in their ICC World Cup 2023 opener, ironically in a rare low-scoring encounter at Chennai.

After bowling the Aussies out for just 199, India reached their target inside 42 overs with Virat Kohli surviving a dropped chance on 12 to make a match-winning 85.

Cummins went wicketless in that match and took just two wickets in two ODIs Australia played against India in the run-up to the tournament.

“I’m really happy where it is,” he said of his form in ODI cricket where he has 126 wickets at an average of just over 28.

“I feel like it’s in as good a place as it ever has been. I think early in my career, I found it a hard balance between Test cricket and T20, like getting too funky.

“I always find with one-day cricket; your roles can be very different. It’s a different kind of challenge to the other formats.”

Pat Cummins said his team will be ready for familiar foes South Africa.

The Proteas won a recent series between the two teams 3-2 after trailing 0-2.

“It always feels like it’s a clash of two very similar teams,” said Cummins.

“So yeah, no doubt it will be another great game tomorrow. We always match up quite similarly against them.”

Unlike Australia’s struggles in their ICC World Cup 2023 opener, South Africa had three centurions — Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and Markram — firing against Sri Lanka.

“They’ve always got some fast bowlers and some batters that take the game on, maybe a leg-spinner. So, it always feels like it’s a clash of two very similar teams,” said Cummins.

Cummins said allrounder Marcus Stoinis was fit and available after missing the first match with a hamstring injury.

“He’s fit so yeah, we’ll announce a team tomorrow but it’s a ground he knows pretty well,” said Pat Cummins of Stoinis who plays for the Lucknow team in the Indian Premier League.

“I think chatting to him and a couple of other guys, it’s probably in a bit of a different condition to what it is for the IPL. The wicket looks really good.”

Australia will, however, continue to be without opener Travis Head, nursing a hand injury.

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Australian captain Pat Cummins said on Thursday that they are hoping to try different team combinations and players in the ODI series against India to prepare for the ICC World Cup 2023, starting next month.

He also said that he had fully recovered from a wrist injury and hoped to play all three one-day internationals against hosts India starting Friday.

While Cummins returns, Australia still won’t have the services of pacer Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Glenn Maxwell for the first match in the northern Indian city of Mohali.

“I am feeling pretty good, pretty much 100 percent, and hope to play tomorrow and play all the games,” Cummins told journalists.

But the Australian pace spearhead said Starc, who is recovering from a groin injury, and Maxwell, from an ankle injury, won’t play “but will be available later in the series”.

Most of Australia’s top players are also key members of different franchises in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament, and Cummins said they “have pretty good information” about the local conditions.

“Hopefully we will get a few answers in the next few games,” Cummins said.

Australia, along with India and England, are seen as three top contenders going into the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.

India have rested captain Rohit Sharma and batting superstar Virat Kohli for the first two ODIs and also hope to try different players before the tournament.

India will be led by KL Rahul in the absence of Sharma, who returns with other key players for the final match of the series.

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