I can handle Test cricket: Cummins

Pat Cummins is confident he can handle rigours of Test cricket. Source: ALEXANDER JOE / AFP

PAT Cummins has sought the counsel of pace legend Dennis Lillee as the luckless quick fights to prove his growing frame can withstand the rigours of Test cricket.

It has been almost two years since Cummins hit world cricket like a tsunami, ripping through South Africa with match figures of 7/117 to clinch a famous two-wicket win in his Test debut.

He has since been sighted about as often as the Loch Ness monster.

There has been three consecutive injury breakdowns, no second baggy green cap and incessant questions as to whether Cummins will ever bounce back as a regular Test fixture.

But, at the tender age of 20, Cummins has one important commodity – time.

The NSW tearaway was on course to play in the upcoming Ashes series, only to have his dream shattered by stress fractures in his lower back during Australia A's tour of South Africa in August.

Former Australian express bowler Shaun Tait reluctantly walked away from the baggy green when he realised that his high-octane, slinging style could not consistently carry his sizeable frame through five days of Test cricket.

Cummins, however, remains resolute.

Pat Cummins during the ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup. Source: AFP

The Ashes may be a write-off but working with Lillee, who himself fought back from lower-back problems, has assured Cummins he will not be a one-Test wonder.

"The baggy green is the most special and enjoyable thing. I'm not giving that up," said Cummins, who has managed just six first-class games since his debut for the Blues in March 2011.

"I love short-form cricket but Test cricket is still the ultimate for me and I believe my body can handle that," Cummins said.

"The camaraderie around a five-day Test is special and that's my aim.

"I don't think I'm any more injury-prone than any other young bowler.

"Having the help of Dennis and the confidence is of Cricket Australia is good, it keeps me motivated.

"I know there will setbacks at my age but hopefully I am setting a good foundation for the future.

"I still want to aspire to a long Test career."

The upside is that Cummins is ahead of his latest schedule.

Initial CA medical reports indicated that the 192cm speedster would miss most of the 2013-14 summer, but Cummins is on track to play in the Big Bash tournament starting December 20.

By February, Cummins could be in contention for Australia's three-Test tour of South Africa, the country that has already witnessed his highs and lows.

"The plan is to start bowling around the 16-week mark, which is early December," he Cummins said.

"Once I'm 100 per cent, hopefully I can jump straight into the Big Bash.

"I don't think I will play Shield cricket.

"With everything I have been through, playing a first-class game could be high-risk."

Cummins said he had felt in a "really good place" during his ill-fated Australia A tour.

"I felt like I was bowling well but at towards the back end of the tour I started to feel a pain that I haven't felt before," Cummins said.

"I felt frustration in that I was looking forward to a big summer against England.

"I only played a couple of first-class games in South Africa, but it reaffirmed how much I love playing the longer form and really getting into the contest."

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