Pat Cummins

Pat Cummins is a right-arm fast bowler and Australia Test captain, ICC Test Player of the Year 2019, with over 200 Test wickets and the most complete trophy cabinet of any Australian captain since Steve Waugh: the Ashes, the World Test Championship, the ODI World Cup, and the 2025-26 home Ashes 4-1. He assembled all of that while bowling at 145+ km/h with a consistency that breaks batting lineups and a control that suffocates them.

Cummins' bowling style is built on hitting the pitch hard, generating steep bounce, and seaming the ball both ways. His economy rate in Test cricket is among the lowest for any fast bowler in the modern era, meaning he builds pressure relentlessly even during spells where wickets are not falling. Other fast bowlers are quicker. Others swing the ball more. None combine pace, accuracy, stamina, and intelligence the way Cummins does.

His appointment as Australia's first specialist fast-bowling captain in decades was seen as a gamble. It has proven to be one of the best decisions Australian cricket has made. Under Cummins, the team has a clarity of purpose and a ruthless efficiency that opponents struggle to match. The 2023 World Test Championship Final against India in London, the 2023 ODI World Cup Final against India in Ahmedabad, and the 2025-26 Ashes at home were all won with Cummins leading from the front, ball in hand.

With the bat, Cummins is a capable lower-order contributor who has scored vital runs in tight matches, adding another dimension to his value. His partnership with Mitchell Starc gives Australia the most devastating new-ball pairing in world cricket. When Cummins and Starc share the new ball at the MCG or the SCG, opening batsmen face a challenge unlike any other.

In 2026, Cummins leads Australia on the tour of South Africa from September to October, featuring 3 ODIs and 3 Tests at venues including Newlands in Cape Town. Cummins bowling with the Dukes ball at Newlands, with Table Mountain behind the sightscreen, is one of the fixtures every cricket fan should plan to watch. Check whatisthetime.now/country/australia for Australian time or whatisthetime.now/country/south-africa for South African time.