Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Darwin: Australia’s captain Pat Cummins believes that playing just one Test in 12 months can extend his Test career, and has urged all-rounder Cameron Green to learn the lessons of the past six years and impose himself on Bangladesh.
A back stress injury kept Cummins to a sole Ashes Test last summer, but the side effect of his absence is that numerous other trouble spots – notably his hamstrings – are fresher and stronger for what could amount to 21 Test matches in the space of 12 months.
“I missed a few Test matches but it feels like I’ve had a proper 12-month block of gym work, running and things I don’t ever think I would have done,” Cummins said on Wednesday. “Something like my hamstrings I’ve probably managed the last five or six years.
“I’m sure they’ll flare up gain, but they feel 100 per cent right now. I only have to look at someone like Starcy [teammate Mitchell Starc] to see someone going well late into his 30s. I think this block has set me up pretty well.”
Josh Hazlewood tipped out Scott Boland, while Green kept his place alongside fellow all-rounder Beau Webster in Australia’s team to face Bangladesh in the first Test on Thursday.
Hazlewood will play his first Test since the Caribbean tour a little over a year ago, after missing the Ashes with hamstring and Achilles injuries.
Nathan Lyon has also been recalled to the team following surgery on a serious hamstring tendon injury he suffered during the third Ashes Test in Adelaide in December.
Teammates have been taken by Lyon’s level of dedication, eschewing alcohol and working assiduously in the gym to get the most out of his 38-year-old frame.
“I was looking at some footage the other day of that Adelaide Test, and I think that’s the best he’s bowled in years,” Cummins said. “So it was really bad timing, but it’s been pretty public how hard he’s worked over the last six months or so.
“He looks in incredible shape, he’s been bowling beautifully, and as captain and teammate it’s going to be awesome to have him back out there.”
Boland was a most unfortunate omission from the team given his superb displays in the Ashes and a hat-trick in the West Indies, but he and Hazlewood can be expected to share a place in the team over the next 12 months provided both stay fit.
“They’re both pretty class aren’t they,” Cummins said of the pair. “We were pretty certain we wanted ‘Lyono’ in the side so it’s then working out what the makeup of the quicks were.
“It’s always a pretty tight call, and there’s not much you can say to Scotty other than there’s a lot of cricket coming up. He knows his worth and how good he is, and I’m sure he’ll be back at some point pretty soon.”
Green had a long state-of-the-union style chat with Cummins and head coach Andrew McDonald at training on Tuesday, and he will have a great opportunity to impose himself on a modest Bangladesh team in Darwin.
“He’s had a bit of time to think about his own game, and the good thing is he’s played quite a lot,” Cummins said of Green. “In his Test career he’s had moments where it’s worked and moments where it hasn’t.
“I think it’s that journey of most cricketers, particularly all-rounders where it’s a really tough job being the finished product when you’re young. Now the job for someone like Cam, who’s 27, is to learn the lessons from his career so far and work out how he plays when he’s at his best.
“We like when he’s nice and busy and putting pressure back on the bowlers, he’s really intimidating. Same when he’s bowling, having that presence. He’s quite an intimidating sight when he gets going, so just taking a lot of confidence and asserting himself on the game.”
Cummins argued that Green’s gentle and introverted countenance should be no barrier to him finding a way to turn into the Incredible Hulk in the middle.
“You meet all kinds of personalities, even really gentle, but when they get into the competition they turn into different people,” Cummins said. “You see him in some T20 games, he’s banging the ball around.
“He’s almost got too many skills, so it’s like, just get out there, assert yourself, strip it away, there’s no pressure from us, you’ve got freedom, get out of your own way and just go play.”
Bangladesh will wait until the toss to confirm the team for their first Test in Australia for 23 years. “Bowling I’m pretty confident we will adjust to these conditions and give them a challenge,” said skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto.
Much will depend on senior fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, following the enforced absence of spearhead Nahid Rana, to ask questions of Green, Marnus Labuschagne and Darwin native Jake Weatherald.
Australia team: Pat Cummins (capt), Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Beau Webster, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Daniel Brettig is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X.
