Former England captain Michael Vaughan said that Australian skipper Pat Cummins will be remembered as Australia’s greatest cricketer after batting great Don Bradman because of his brilliant numbers and performances. Cummins continued his red-hot form with his third successive five-wicket haul during Australia’s third and final Test of the series against Pakistan at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
“I saw a bit of DK Lillee (Dennis Lillie), but I think Pat Cummins,” Vaughan said on Fox Cricket. Vaughan said that Cummins has atleast five to seven more years to play, with the skipper being just 30 currently. He said that after a few years, Cummins will be just behind Bradman as Australia’s greatest cricketer.
“I do not think he is ever going to surpass Sir Don, but I think Pat Cummins is going to be Australia’s greatest cricketer after Sir Don. I honestly think he is that good. His bowling. His captaincy. His numbers. He has five to seven years left to play.” “I honestly think he is that good that we will be talking about him in a few years as being just behind Sir Don Bradman as the greatest Australian cricketer,” he concluded.
2023 will be remembered as the year of skipper Pat Cummins, as the silent, smiling Australian assassin guided the multi-time World Cup-winning side to numerous memorable championship title wins. The year was not the one to remember for Cummins on a personal front, as he lost his mother Maria to breast cancer in March of this year. But in what has been an inspiring story filled with passion for the sport and country, resilience, tonnes of mental and physical strength and determination, the skipper led from the front and made the Men in Yellow, the cricketing fraternity and most importantly, his mother, proud.
Cummins retained the Ashes in UK as a captain following a 2-2 series draw, won the ICC World Test Championship and Australia’s sixth ICC Cricket World Cup as a captain last year. He concluded the year with a huge win over Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test, in which he also took a ten-wicket haul, which included two five-wicket hauls in each innings.
In the IPL auctions recently held in Dubai, Pat Cummins secured a Rs 20.50 crore deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad, becoming the most expensive IPL player ever at one point before his teammate Mitchell Starc beat him with a Rs 24.75 crore deal with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Cummins ended the year with 59 wickets in 24 matches, with the best bowling figures of 6/91. 42 of these wickets came in Tests, while 17 came in ODIs.
Cummins also delivered some valuable performances with the bat during the Ashes and World Cup, scoring 422 runs in 28 innings this year at an average of 21.10. His 44* against England in an instant classic first Ashes Test and 12* in a double century stand with Glenn Maxwell against Afghanistan in the Cricket World Cup come to mind in an instant.
In 196 international games, Cummins has 453 wickets at an average of 24.45, with the best figures of 6/23. The highest-wicket taker for Australia in international cricket is legendary spinner Shane Warne, who ended up with 1,001 wickets. Cummins is the ninth-highest wicket-taker for Australia in international cricket.
Cummins has taken 257 wickets in 58 Tests, 141 wickets in 88 ODIs and 55 wickets in 50 T20Is. With 1,746 runs in 161 innings across all formats at an average of 14.79, including two Test fifties, Cummins is also a very capable lower-order batter.
