Pat Cummins ready to answer Australia Ashes call if needed
Monday 13 July 2015 13:00, UK
Australia seamer Pat Cummins insists he is ready to be thrown into Ashes action should he be called upon despite a two-year absence from first-class cricket.
Cummins has won just one Test cap - a man-of-the-match performance against South Africa in November 2011 - after suffering a series of injuries, notably a stress fracture of the back, but was a late call-up into the tourists' squad following the retirement of Ryan Harris last week because of chronic knee problems.
With doubts surrounding the fitness of fellow fast-bowler Mitchell Starc following the first Test defeat to England in Cardiff, Cummins - who was preparing for a tour of India with Australia A when he got the call - could yet feature in the five-match series and he is confident he could hold his own.
"I think so," he told the Cricket Australia website. "I haven’t played a lot of red ball cricket in the last little while, but I’ve still played a lot of T20s and one-dayers and been bowling a lot, so in terms of my body I feel 100 per cent confident.
"In the last month or so I’ve been bowling with the red ball trying to rediscover swing and all those things that come with a first-class match and I’ve been really happy with where I am. So I haven’t put it into a game yet but if a game comes up soon I feel pretty confident."
Cummins says Australia are still targeting an emphatic series win despite the 169-run loss at the weekend.
"Everyone was pretty flat after the game, but we picked up pretty quickly. It's a long series, so we've still got the chance to win 4-1. Everyone knows they played really well and out-played us but we've seen what they've got now and we've got four games to get back at them," he added.
"We spoke about the key moments where they won in this game and the things for the bowlers and batsmen to work on, but we're really positive and clear on what everyone wants to achieve in the next few days to get ready for Lord's."
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