Cummins: Gallipoli trip united squad ahead of World Cup defence
May 27 (CRICKETNMORE) - In the weeks ahead, with the ten ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup teams playing each other before four progress to the semi-finals, expect plenty of quotes about losing a battle
“We all took so much from it and by the time we landed in England we felt like we were a really tight unit.
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“Until you are standing over a gravestone learning what these guys, who were the same age as us now, did for their country, you can’t really understand it.
“Their sacrifices for their mates just really hit home. It just stripped everything back, when you are there, you realise what’s important in life, why you like playing cricket and hanging out with your mates on this team.
“Hopefully when we are in the crux of the tournament and we are coping pressure and heat, you’ve got those mates to fall back on.”
Cummins, eloquent and thoughtful, perfectly strikes the balance between his leadership role and being ‘one of the blokes’.
But it’s how he performs with the ball in the days ahead that will be his ultimate cricketing judge.
Brett Lee, who knows how to inspire Australia to World Cup success, taking 22 wickets in the 2003 tournament, believes this could be Cummins’ time, labelling him his ‘one to watch’.
It’s a compliment that the world’s leading Test match bowler shrugs aside, acknowledging his ODI career - with 82 wickets from 48 matches - remains a work in progress.
“It’s nice of Brett to say that,” he added.
“I’m bowling as well as I ever have. I still feel this is a format of the game that I’ve not been able to totally dominate. I’ve had a couple of good series but you judge yourself on how you go in the big tournaments, so I’m just pumped for this.
“I’m bowling better with the new ball and hopefully there’s wickets in the middle overs and I can limit the damage at the death. It’s all falling together at the right time.”
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