Pat Cummins rises to world No.1 in 13-year Aussie first
Pat Cummins has made history as the first Australian to sit atop the ICC’s Test bowler rankings since Glenn McGrath in 2006.
The star paceman had been rising up the list throughout the summer and sat second until today.
Cummins has replaced South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada at the top, with England’s Jimmy Anderson now squeezed in between the pair.
McGrath was last ranked first in February 2006, while Mitchell Johnson reached as high as second in 2009.
Meanwhile, suspended batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner still sit fourth and seventh respectively in the batting rankings.
Strength to strength in stellar year
Cummins is determined to take his fast bowling to new heights after overcoming years of injury toil to win the Allan Border Medal.
The 25-year-old last week confirmed his status as Australia’s premier Test paceman, edging out Nathan Lyon to secure the prestigious award.
Cummins snared 44 wickets at 25.61 across all formats during a 12-month voting period which did not include his recent man-of-the-series performance against Sri Lanka.
Once considered too fragile to forge a career in cricket’s most gruelling format, Cummins – whose stunning 2011 debut in South Africa as a teenager was followed by years of injury struggles – has proven he belongs in Test cricket.
“If you play a lot of cricket and you get injured, you can deal with that,” he said.
“This year I had a few months off with a back issue but I’d played so much cricket beforehand that I knew those big worries of the past were hopefully behind me for a while.
“I just had a lot of confidence and knew I’d come back bowling well, get back in the side and all things going well, have a good summer like I did the previous year.
“Just having the ability to look in the diary ahead and plan out tours in my head, and just worry about bowling well as opposed to if I’m going to be in the side or if I’m going to be fit enough.”
Cummins shapes as the key man in Australia’s pace attack in a crucial year which includes the World Cup and Ashes series.
The New South Welshman has been mentored by pace legend Dennis Lillee throughout his career and said he had learned plenty from David Saker, whose sudden resignation as Australia’s bowling coach last week came as a surprise.
“There’s definitely things I always try and improve every time I train,” Cummins said.
“Obviously swing is going to be quite a big factor (in England). A lot of the Tests here the ball doesn’t really swing too much so getting over there, preparing well and trying to improve my swing bowling, that’s definitely one thing.
“Someone like (Mitchell Starc) bowled 150km/h all summer, so trying to maintain pace like that.
“Every time I play and bowl I feel like I learn a little bit more.”
with AAP
