Dubai: Australian fast bowling legend Brett Lee is tipping Pat Cummins to take his mantle despite a spate of injuries.
The 22-year-old is out until February’s ICC T20 World Cup in India after suffering a stress fracture in his back for the third time in his career last month.
It comes at a time when question marks surround the next generation of Australian attack.
“I’ve always said Pat Cummins is the most exciting, young and up-and-coming fast bowler around,” Lee told Gulf News on the sidelines of a visit to Dubai this week as an ambassador for hearing firm Cochlear.
“He swings the ball both ways at 150km/h. Everyone says he is injury-prone, no he’s not, he is 22 years of age and still growing, his body is still catching up to the work he’s doing.
“When I was 22 my body was breaking down, I had back and elbow injuries and didn’t start Test cricket until I was 23, so he’s well ahead of me already,” said the 38-year-old, who took 310 wickets in 76 Test appearances for Australia between 1999 and 2008.
“I guess it’s about educating the young players coming through that you need time and when you are under the pump with injuries you need to step back and say ‘this is all part of being a fast bowler’.”
Looking to the future
With Australia in transition following a host of retirements after their Ashes defeat to England this summer, Lee said it was now time to look to the future, starting with the forthcoming Test series against New Zealand from November 5 in Brisbane.
“They’ve wiped the board and said ‘that’s happened’, now they’ve got a new team, a new captain, a new vice-captain and some younger guys coming through,” he added.
“They’ve lost a lot of experience but they will go into this Test and build their own brand of cricket, and that’s have they have to do now.”
The first day-night Test will be played during this series in Adelaide from November 27, but despite admitting Test match cricket could do with such reinventions to regain popularity over the shorter format, Lee had his reservations.
“I think the pink ball is going to be hard to see. The seams are green and after five or six overs they will go black and the ball will get discoloured, against a green pitch it won’t be easy to see.
“Also statistics for the day-night game should be separate. It’s like comparing eras, you can’t compare Don Bradman’s 6,994 Test runs on uncovered wickets against someone playing on an absolute flat road in India, it’s hard to compare.
“I’m open to change and I think anything that gets more people watching Test match cricket is great, but I would rather see the game stay pure. Having said that, if it stays pure it might just drain out.”
