Taking the new ball for New South Wales in the absence of Brett Lee sounds like a daunting prospect for any paceman, but 17-year-old tearaway Patrick Cummins is taking the opportunity in his stride and making some serious noise.
Cummins, who won’t be 18 until May, has played three Twenty20 Big Bash games for the Blues. After ripping through the Queensland top order on Monday night, taking 3-24, he now boasts an average of 11.4, complimented by an economy rate of 6.7.
But the young tearaway hasn’t just impressed with his figures, rather with a natural speed, accuracy and aggression that had one of his three high-profile Queensland victims, James Hopes, predicting a bright and long career.
Hopes, who was bowled by a 145kph Cummins thunderbolt, said that the important thing was to nurture his talent and not to snuff out his passion for the game by pushing him too far too soon.
“That’s a fair clip for a 17-year-old. I suppose now the trick … is not to rush him too much, give him time to grow into his body,” Hopes said.
“I saw him bowl on TV the other night, and I saw that he hurried up Jonathan Wells from Tasmania, and he’s regarded as one of the better players of the short ball in the country – so when you’re going through him for pace, you’ve got some toe about you.”
“The kid’s 17. Why don’t you let him live his life for a little bit before you start pushing him into too much. If you give him three or four years then he’s at the grand old age of 21.”
“He’s going to be a good player and the trick is not to see a good player in a few games and then say we have to pick him in this this and this.”
“Just let him live a little bit and he’ll be a good player in his early 20s and then you can be up for a 10-year international career.”
Cummins’ entry to the domestic Twenty20 circuit has forced people to take notice, and in a positive sign for the Blues, he is but one of many blue-chip prospects coming through.
Precocious talents such as Phillip Hughes and Usman Khawaja are practically veterans in the current New South Wales line-up, as the teenaged trio of Cummins, Sean Abbott and Nic Maddison have found comfort in the top-grade without so much as pausing to acclimatise.
Ben Rohrer, who top-scored with 47 not out in the Blues’ 17-run win over the Bulls, said that the injection of youth was having a positive effect among the entire playing group.
“It’s great to play with these kids coming through. They’ve just got so much exuberance and passion for the game, and it rubs off on everyone else. You can just see us enjoying our cricket a lot at the moment, which is great,” he said.
“They’ve shown that they’ve got as much skill as everyone else, even at 17 to 18 years old.”
“I’ve only faced (Cummins) once in the nets, a couple of years ago, and it was a bit scary. Some of the nets we get are a bit green, as well, so it’s not much fun and I try to get out of there as quick as I can.”
“I was looking at the speeds today when I was in the sheds, and 145kph is fantastic for a 17-year-old, and he’s only going to get stronger, so it’s exciting.”
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