IF THERE IS a busier person than Pat Cummins, we don’t envy them. Since leading Australia to victory in the 2023 Cricket World Cup, Cummins has captained the national side to series wins over Pakistan, the West Indies and New Zealand before jetting off for the T20 World Cup in the USA, to say nothing of his domestic duties.
Cummins has earnt a break. Lucky for him, he was left out of the Australian squad for last month’s tour of England, allowing him to spend some time at home. But even in this so-called ‘rest’ period, Cummins isn’t exactly kicking his feet up on the couch for a binge-watch session. When he catches up with Men’s Health, Cummins is doing the rounds promoting his signature Carrera eyewear collection.
“Carrera is a brand that I’d worn even before I signed on with them,” Cummins tells us. “I was able to work with the design team to help this collection come together. They make a statement and nowadays people want their sunglasses to stand out from the pack. That’s what these do.”
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In addition showing off some fashionable eyewear, Cummins has been keeping busy in other ways during his recent rest period – although, when we call it that, he immediately corrects us. “It’s more like preseason,” he says. “It’s been great to be honest. Sleeping in my own bed has probably been the best part, but outside of that it’s been lots of time in the gym for strength work. It’s about trying to place myself in the best position I can for the summer ahead.”
Cummins simply doesn’t have time to rest. In November he’ll return to captaincy duties for an ODI series against Pakistan, his first in the 50-over format since lifting the World Cup trophy in 2023. Then, India will arrive on Australia shores to contest the Border-Gavaskar trophy in the blockbuster series of the summer. Australia haven’t held the trophy since 2015, suffering four consecutive series defeats since then, but Cummins is confident the silverware will soon be back in Australian hands. “They’re a great side and we haven’t beaten them for four series now, but I feel like we’re in a really good position to break the drought,” he says.
To ensure his desired outcome, Cummins isn’t taking his preseason easy. “I’m in the gym every second day at the moment,” he says. “I’ll do a heavy day and then have a day to recover, but on those recovery days I’ll go for a run or do some rehab work, so I’m not just sitting around.”
Cummins hasn’t bowled a ball in eight weeks in an attempt to rest his overworked overarm motion, but in its stead, he’s been able to focus on some areas that are left on the backburner during the busy playing season. “When you’re playing – which we are for pretty much 12 months of the year – it’s hard to get in the gym to strengthen yourself. Most of our time is spent fixing the niggles that pop up or resting,” he says.
INSTAGRAM | @patcummins30
Heading into the summer, Cummins says there are two areas he’s been focusing on in training. “Pretty much all of the training I do is an attempt to strike a balance between injury prevention and maximising performance,” he says. “Sometimes they go hand in hand. A lot of my exercise is now about getting stronger, because over the course of the summer, I’m going to lose some of that strength, so I need to build up a big enough base while I can.”
“Recently I’ve been working with heavier loads and building my hamstring strength. That’s stuff that I can’t do when I’ve got a game in the next couple days,” Cummins continues. “Then there are some areas that fast bowlers in particular need to take care of, like ankles, hips and hamstrings. I always pay extra attention to those in training to prevent injury.”
With a packed training routine that balances injury prevention with strength work to optimise performance, you can expect another stellar summer from Cummins, the kind that has typified his tenure as Australia’s captain. At the very least, he’ll be doing what he normally does, daring to stand out from the pack, thanks in no small part to those Carrera sunglasses he can’t stop talking about.
INSTAGRAM | @patcummins30
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