Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins seems very relieved bowling in the seamer-friendly English conditions after spending more than three months in India. The 24-year-old is being one part of the four-man fast bowling attack which will feature the likes of James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. With four high-quality quicks, Australia’s bowling is the scariest among all the competitors in the upcoming tournament.
“I’ve been playing games for about eight or nine months flat out without really missing a game or being rested,” he said on Monday (May 30). “I feel like I’m in a really good place and I feel like I’ve played a lot of cricket. It’s been a bit of a dream run which is always what you hope for. So I’m feeling really good.”
Cummins was a part of the Australia squad that played the Border-Gavaskar series in India, a two month long affairs. The gruelling series was followed by the Indian Premier League before flying to England for a pleasant change of working conditions. The wickets in India do not offer much purchase for the bowlers which means more grind and less reward on most occasions. However, bowling in England makes things reverse in order as the supportive tracks enable fast bowler to reap rewards in heaps.
“I’ve been bowling on Indian wickets for the last three months so it’s nice to have a bit of a change,” he said. “The two biggest weapons over here are pace, and we’re lucky we’ve got three of four guys in the squad who can bowl quickly, and accuracy is just so important.”
Meanwhile, Chris Lynn isn’t worried about getting selected for Australia’s opening encounter against New Zealand on Friday (June 2). The right-hander states that the Australian management has a happy headache of selecting the best players from a lot of highly talented players. So, therefore, whoever gets dropped, has no reason to be upset as only the best XI can start.
“Whoever plays in the best XI is obviously there for a reason and whoever’s missing out is a bit, well, not stiff because who do you drop out of that line-up?” he said. “We’re all good players. Whatever happens… if we win the competition who cares?”
Lynn suffered a scare in the IPL after he picked up a shoulder injury. He admits that the injury made him feel insecure about his Champions Trophy chances.
“It was probably the first thing that crossed my mind that it would dampen my chances of playing here,” he said. “That’s why I stayed over in India because I knew, there’s not a great deal to do over there and rehab was the first priority. I knew that if I stayed over there and tried to get a bit of game time, I’d give myself every chance to get myself fit for this.