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Australia captain Pat Cummins has revealed he wants to play on until he is 35 as he continues to try and get the balance right between his playing commitments with the national side and family life at home.
Cummins departed India midway through Australia's tour of the sub-continent in February to return home and be alongside his sick mother and the recently turned 30-year-old is sitting out this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) ahead of a hectic upcoming schedule that includes next month's ICC World Test Championship final and the five-match Ashes series against England. The Australia fast bowler provided tremendous insight into the rigours of being a professional cricketer when speaking with former England footballer Rio Ferdinand during an interview and said only recently is he working out the right balance in his life. "Cricket is basically 12 months of the year; there is always a cricket game going on somewhere, and I played non-stop for a year or two," Cummins said as quoted by ICC during the interview. "This is about four or five years ago, (when) I kind of just came back from injuries. And I was just spent, like burnout and I just remember thinking 'geez I am 25 here but I want to do this until I am 35' I have got to find a way to balance all these different things," added the pacer. The ability to return home midway through a tour earlier this year helped Cummins spend additional time with his family and be alongside his mother before she passed away in March and the move received plenty of support. Renowned England supporter group, The Barmy Army, posted a touching tribute to Cummins' mother just after she entered palliative care, while Australia great Ricky Ponting said he reached out to the Australia captain at the time. "When I first heard that he was making the trip home between Test matches, I had a pretty good understanding of what that was - his mum has not been well for a few years now, so I thought that might have been the reason. I reached out to him there and then," Ponting said on The ICC Review in March. "I think we have seen as well just how small and how tight the cricket world can be. I am sure that he would've received a lot of well-wishes from all parts of the world, the cricket-loving fraternity, that would have sent some messages of support to him and the rest of his family in obviously what is a really difficult time for them," added Ponting. Cummins said he was grateful for the opportunity to return home midway through the Border-Gavaskar series against India as it allowed him to spend more time with his family and gain further perspective on his priorities in life. "It is still pretty raw at the moment but the last few months have been luckily enough to spend loads of time with mum," he said. "But (also) us as kids, and (with) dad, and just sharing all those memories together. I think it hits home the kind of person you want to be, the kind of father you want to be. So from that side, it's been quite good. Lots of memories. But in terms of the grief I guess we will keep working through that," concluded Cummins. Cummins will depart Australia later this month to join up with his teammates ahead of the World Test Championship final against India that commences at The Oval on June 7, with the first Ashes Test to start on June 16. (ANI)
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