Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Pat Cummins says Australia’s bowling quartet are relishing the time they still have playing together, after showing they can fire the team through their biggest year in history.
Australia’s 214-run win over South Africa will be forever be known for Matt Renshaw’s runs, after the Queenslander backed up his first-innings 190 with 82 in the second.
But the impact of Australia’s bowling, on a good Test wicket that didn’t offer too much after day one, was crucial too.
Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Cummins and Josh Hazlewood began this match as the first quartet in history to each have 300 Test wickets to their name.
They ended it as the only quartet to have reached 600 wickets in matches played together.
After Hazlewood’s career-best 6-49 in the fourth innings, the quartet now occupy second, fourth, sixth and eighth on Australia’s all-time wicket-taker lists.
And Hazlewood, after a tough run of injuries, has now taken 67 wickets at 14.83 over the past three years.
“Joshy’s a superstar. He obviously gets spoken about a lot about his consistency but I think that undersells him and what he does,” Cummins said.
“He’s really skilful with the new ball but once you get a reversing ball, he’s just as skilful and can swing it both ways.
“One thing I’ve always loved about Joshy and Starcy is they’re just so happy getting to the grind. They’ll never shy away from having a bowl.
“It’s not always the case with Test players whereas they’re just whatever the team needs, they’ll just roll up their sleeves and go to work and are a captain’s dream.”
Beyond Hazlewood, Cummins also reached speeds of 147km/h in Durban and Lyon declared he felt as good as ever after last summer’s hamstring tear.
But it has not been simple.
Since the start of 2022 the group have also been restricted to playing 18 of Australia’s 48 Tests together, with Starc the only member to play more than twice in last summer’s Ashes.
His man-of-the-series performance came as he has set up a home gym and swore off alcohol during that series.
Lyon has made similar commitments in a bid to squeeze every last bit out of his career, while Cummins and Hazlewood have time and time again overcome challenges with all aged between 33 and 38.
The quartet will be crucial in the rest of this series, the home summer and next year’s Ashes, while trio of quicks may become a duo in India in January.
“It’s knowing it’s not going to happen forever and relish it while it’s happening,” Cummins said on Tuesday.
“We haven’t really had the consistency the last two or three years like we did in the late 2010s or four or five years ago.
“This week has felt a bit more like the old Test cricket, I reckon. It’s a bit more of a grind. Felt like it was going to go five days, the four of us playing.
“Particularly Joshy, just seeing him getting consistent games back into him, didn’t really get that chance for a few years.
“It’s fun. We’ve been lucky to be able to do it for a fair bit of time.”
