ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021

October 29, 2021

Pat Cummins

Dubai International Stadium

Australia

Pre Match Media Conference

Q. Can you sum up sort of the feeling in the team after two wins on the board to start the tournament? Obviously it's the start everyone would dream of at a World Cup.

PAT CUMMINS: Yeah, it's a great feeling. I think bringing this group together there was a really good feeling coming into the tournament, but without playing too much cricket together.

I thought the win against South Africa, it was great to get the win. We just snuck over the line there, but felt like that got us into the tournament. I thought last night was a fairly complete performance, the way everyone played their part, bowlers did well and the batters closed it out quite emphatically.

Yeah, really good feeling. Obviously a huge game tomorrow.

Q. Can I ask specifically about the role Adam Zampa plays for you, how crucial he is to the balance of the bowling attack and how much confidence it gives you guys that tend to bowl a bit earlier that you have Adam coming up behind, and 2 for 12 last night, that sort of performance?

PAT CUMMINS: Yeah, Adam is huge for us. I think he's one of the premier spin bowlers in the world in white ball cricket. He's been fantastic for us for a long time.

I think just knowing in this format batters can get away, there can be a big start in the first six overs, but having especially a wrist spinner is just a huge -- hugely beneficial for us. He can take those couple of wickets, keep it tight, and then we can attack from the other end.

Yeah, he showed how good he is last night.

Q. This looks like it could be the first of seven meetings between England and Australia this winter; is there an extra bit of motivation, incentive, I should say, when you meet England, just bearing in mind the history, the rivalry? We saw that with India and Pakistan early in the tournament how much it meant to those two teams. Is it something similar for you guys ahead of a big winter?

PAT CUMMINS: Most of the team is quite different to the Test side for England, but it's always huge. We play England a lot. I think the style of play is quite similar. We like to take the game on.

They've been probably just about the form team the last few years in white ball cricket.

Yeah, huge game. We know these guys really well. We know it's such a big game in the context of making the semifinals, and yeah, always enjoy coming up against England.

As you say, there are a few players that will be coming out this summer from this side, so it would be great to get one on the board against them early.

Q. As you say, they're the form team in white ball cricket. The last time you played them in a World Cup match was the semifinal in 2019 which didn't go too well for you guys. There's obviously going to be a quite a few players involved in both those games. Do you think there will be any scars left over from that experience for you?

PAT CUMMINS: No, I don't think so. It was a little while ago, different format. As I said, we play them a lot, so even since then we've played a lot of games against them.

Q. They are a bit of a yardstick in white ball cricket, though. Do you watch them and see things that you guys can do, as well? They're the highest scoring team in world cricket, in white ball cricket, and I think before the Sri Lanka game runs are at a premium for you guys ahead of bowling. Do you look at them and see that's where we need to be in terms of T20 cricket especially?

PAT CUMMINS: No, I think definitely in 50-over cricket. I think T20 there's a lot of different teams that do it well.

I think I'll probably look at more the style of the teams rather than, I guess, how teams might structure up. I think what you see amongst all the great teams, all the better teams is they all take the game on. They bat deep. Even if they lose a couple of wickets, they keep trying to fire, and they just have clever bowlers, some spinners, some quicks that all play their role and do it really well in different phases.

Yeah, I'd say looking at those better teams such as England, that's the style that they kind of implement that's worked for them, and yeah, other teams try to copy.

Q. On yourself, you come out of quarantine only about 10 days ago after five months of not playing cricket. Obviously you would have been training and training hard, but to jump straight into those warmup games and then play two games, are you surprised that you've been able to hit the ground running, and has that sort of given you confidence given that it is sort of a big -- there's a lot of cricket coming up?

PAT CUMMINS: Yeah, I guess, yeah, maybe a little bit of it is relief, but this has been on my calendar for the last four or five months as kind of the main goal, so I've spent a lot of time working on T20 bowling.

We had a similar kind of scenario last year where we had a big break and then we flew over to England for those T20s and one dayers. This time around I kind of felt like I knew what I had to do before I got over here. But yeah, been really happy with how I've been bowling, and yeah, it's all come together so far.

Q. Just wondering, obviously you guys have built so much towards the World Cup in Australia last year and the conditions and the balance of the team that would be required for that. How do you think your travelling now -- in that team sort of a year ago, does it feel like quite a different team and a different approach that you're taking for this World Cup?

PAT CUMMINS: I don't know really. I think this is our -- this squad of 15 is our best equipped wherever we play in the world at this moment. Come 12 months' time when the World Cup is in Australia, I'm sure the majority of this squad will be there.

Maybe the style we play, obviously things like in Australia you have big grounds, there's a bit more bounce for the quick bowlers. Perhaps the players would adapt how they play slightly differently, but in terms of the personnel and how we structure the side, yeah, it's hard to say it would be that different.

Q. Also just the fifth bowler role, I guess, was shared between Marcus and Maxy last night and they kind of went after both of them. Do you see the side as still sticking with the way you've gone with the specialist quicks and having that fifth bowler role shared, and do you think other teams might look to target that sort of fifth bowler sharing role?

PAT CUMMINS: I think it's worked really well for us against South Africa, a night like last night, a couple of the bigger overs. But I think the flexibility that structure gives us is just huge. Maxy bowling one in the first six, that means now Starcy can have an extra over through the middle. You saw he took a couple of overs in those -- couple of wickets in the middle overs. That's because we were able to have someone like Maxy bowl early.

Stoin still hasn't bowled a lot the last little bit, but we know how much of an impact he can be with the ball, let alone having the option to now have that extra batter.

I think, yeah, we're really well suited. We're covering a lot of areas with that fifth bowler. We've got Maxwell, Stoinis, Marsh, all who can contribute those four overs. It might change, but at the moment I feel like whichever way we go, we've got plenty of options.

Q. David Warner has been a bit short of runs until last night. How important is it to your team to have Warner scoring runs and playing well at the top of the order then?

PAT CUMMINS: David is a huge player for us. For the last decade he's been huge for Australian cricket. I think, as well, opening the batting, that's where you can really set up the innings. You saw yesterday the way him and Finchy took the game on. It makes those kind of 150 targets either tough to get or you feel like you're well ahead of the run rate straight away.

He is fantastic. He's also another player that he's a big-game player. He likes to take on the big teams. I'm sure tomorrow you'll see him puffing his chest out, and he's someone that our whole team absolutely loves playing alongside. We all go with him and back him up, and yeah, fantastic to see him backing runs. He's such a good player. We always knew that they weren't far away.

Q. Not a guy who gets down during a lean patch?

PAT CUMMINS: I think like all the great players, yeah, there's huge expectations that he puts on himself, so he's been around enough to know that runs aren't too far away. It's frustrating, but yeah, every player that's been around for a decade kind of goes through those patches. He's been fantastic around the group. The last couple of weeks he's been great. Yeah, he's his own harshest critic.

Q. Do you expect him to open the batting in the Ashes?

PAT CUMMINS: Yeah.

Q. Following on from that, Aaron Finch, nice to see him get some runs at the top, as well?

PAT CUMMINS: Yeah, spot on. Yeah, another one who's done really well to come back from injury, and yeah, hasn't played a heap of cricket over the last few months. I thought he looked fantastic yesterday again. Taking the game on, a couple of his trademark big hits down the ground, just wonderful opening partnership those two. Yeah, showing how good they are, and they're going to be huge for us.

Q. Just on England, is it possible to strike any sort of psychological blow ahead of the summer out here by beating them in this game coming up?

PAT CUMMINS: I mean, perhaps, but as I said, I think there's only a couple of players that will -- the majority of the side are mainly white ball players. Yeah, maybe one or two players, but different format. I wouldn't read into it too much.

Q. How are you going being away from home? I know you've got a brand newbie, a really little one back at home, and families haven't been able to travel like you've been accustomed to in the past, so how are you feeling with all of that?

PAT CUMMINS: Yeah, thanks for that. Not too bad, thanks. Becky has been great back home. Yeah, missing being home and missing those first couple of weeks, but yeah, hopefully basically as soon as we fly back into Australia I'll be able to see them in quarantine, but it's been tough. FaceTime has been great. We spend a lot of time on FaceTime.

Yeah, it's a World Cup, so that makes it a little bit easier. Although I would love to be there, yeah, pretty lucky to be here in the World Cup.

Q. On the form of your two openers, Aaron and David Warner, do you feel like now that they've got a few runs under their belt that you've got one of the big pieces of the puzzle back to have success in this tournament?

PAT CUMMINS: Yeah, I think you saw yesterday how you can make a reasonable chase look pretty good if you get off to a good start, and I think those first six overs, the powerplay is huge. Having confident batters in form that can really take that apart is just huge, sets up the whole batting inning.

I think another great thing about those first two games is it feels like everyone in the 11 has played a huge role. Just about everyone is fired, and yeah, is riding high on confidence. Yeah, it feels like it's all coming together.

Q. Would you say England is the benchmark? They're the world champions in 50-over cricket, but do you see them as the team to beat in this tournament?

PAT CUMMINS: Yeah, I'd say they're probably one of four or five teams to be honest. Yeah, it's a format where you feel like anyone on their day -- yeah, I guess the top three, four, five teams could beat anyone else. Yeah, they're right up there. They're right in that top tier.