'I’ll be ready if I have to' - Pat Cummins on taking up captaincy during Ashes

The highly anticipated Ashes series is all set to commence from December eight at the Gabba in Brisbane. Ahead of the high-profile series, Australia’s vice-captain Pat Cummins has asserted that he is all ready to manage his workload if he has to captain the side if regular Test skipper, Tim Paine isn’t fit for the initial part of the series.

Paine has recently undergone surgery on a pinched nerve in his neck. This has however raised doubts on his availability for the Ashes. Thus, if he is unable to return completely fit, Cummins might need to take the mantle of leading the team. The pacer said that he will approach the experienced players on the side for help if the job in hand gets tough for him at any given time.

“Hopefully Tim will be fine, he’s nearing 100 percent but I’ll be ready if I have to, but I doubt that. If I was in the role and I found it tough, at times, there are ten other guys I’d lean on out in the middle. You’ve got people like Smithy and Davey Warner who are incredibly experienced, all the bowlers are experienced and look after themselves pretty well so I’d have no issues handballing it over to other people to help out,” Cummins said as quoted by Channel Nine.

I always love going into a series giving myself the best chance to turn up: Pat Cummins

The speedster hasn’t featured in a first-class match since February. He was also not part of the team for the limited-overs series against West Indies and Bangladesh. Cummins also skipped the UAE leg of the IPL before playing in the T20 World Cup 2021. However, the pacer has stated that he is feeling good and is confident to head into the red-ball series.

“With no games, it gave me the chance to focus on a few different things, so my body feels as good as it has in a couple of years. There’s no niggles, I feel really fresh and I always love going into a series giving myself the best chance to turn up and, if I have to bowl 50 overs in a Test, I can,” Cummins added.

Cummins will be accompanied by Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc for the fast bowling duties. Opening up on it he said, “The benefit of the short spells is that we’re really, really fresh. I always feel like it’s better to be underdone than overdone coming into a big Test series.”