Aussie quick Pat Cummins said he is a bowler first in the ODI team and then the captain as former five-time champions gear up for the 2023 World Cup in India later this year. Cummins added in the lead-up to the mega event he expects leadership responsibilities to be shared among seniors as selectors don’t want to risk his workload management.
“I know the selectors have been really clear that I’m a bowler first in that team,” Pat said. “So, if we need to manage some of those games leading into the World Cup that takes precedence over the continuity of being captain every single game.
“We’ll manage that, but there’s a great team around us of players and staff so while I’m the captain and it’s a bigger workload it’s manageable,” the right-arm seamer added.
With Cummins remaining at the helm of things since the start of English summer, including the World Test Championship Final against India and the ongoing Ashes, he is likely to get an extended rest ahead of the World Cup.
Since Australia will travel to South Africa for the white-ball leg starting in late August and then to India for the three One-Dayers, Cummins will not come up for toss in every game, something even chief selector George Bailey also believes.
“In our one-day team, we do feel like we’ve got some strong leaders, some really experienced members of the team, and some developing leaders. So regardless of Pat being there, I think we are moving away from this concept of a captain taking over and their leadership being all-encompassing,” Bailey said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Meanwhile, it was following Aaron Finch’s retirement from white-ball cricket in October 2022 when Pat was handed over the captaincy in this format.
CA looks to appoint one white-ball captain
While Pat Cummins was announced as Finch’s successor in the ODIs, Cricket Australia didn’t appoint anyone as their T20I captain, given the Aussies were not scheduled to play any T20Is for quite some time.
With South Africa’s T20Is set to commence now, CA will look to name an interim captain for the shortest format until the World Cup ends – after which they aim to announce one white-ball captain going forward.
Speaking on the same, Cummins said he doesn’t want to rush this passing-the-baton thing as he believes several senior players will put up their hand when needed.
“I certainly don’t want to rush anyone out the door,” he said. “I think this is about the fourth Ashes series where Jimmy Anderson says it’s going to be his last one. You never know. It’s just an age. Some of these guys might be around here in four years, and still at the top level. We’ll see,” Cummins added.
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