Just two days out from his first assignment as Australia’s one-day captain, Pat Cummins has withdrawn from the IPL ahead of a hectic international schedule.
Cummins, who was last year appointed Test captain, has left more than $1 million on the table from the Kolkata Knight Riders.
“I’ve made the difficult decision to miss next years IPL,” Cummins tweeted on Tuesday. “The international schedule is packed with Tests and ODI’s for the next 12 months, so will take some rest ahead of an Ashes series and World Cup.”
Fellow NSW and Australian paceman Mitchell Starc is expected to again ignore similar sums and join Cummins in not playing the IPL, which has become ever more difficult for fast bowlers after being extended to 10 weeks from mid-March.
The third member of Australia’s first-choice pace attack, Josh Hazlewood, is yet to make a decision.
Cummins became the most expensive overseas buy ever in the IPL after the Kolkata Knight Riders paid a staggering 155 million rupees ($3.17 million) for the fast bowler in the 2019 auction.
Pat Cummins has withdrawn from the IPL because of the cluttered schedule.Credit:Paul Kane/Getty Images
Following Australia’s three one-day matches against England over the next week, Australia have two Tests against the West Indies starting late this month, three against South Africa, a four-Test tour of India, a likely Test championship match in England before a five-Test Ashes tour, a white ball series in South Africa, a 50-over World Cup in India, the 2023-24 home summer of Test and white ball matches, and then a tour of New Zealand.
Because of extra series that need to be played as a result of COVID postponements, Australia’s season began at the end of winter with one-day series in Townsville and Cairns. Australia have played 20 white ball matches over the past 11 weeks, including the disappointing T20 World Cup campaign, but a number of players have been rested at various stages.
While player rotation is no longer the norm in Australian cricket, Hazlewood admits that it may be necessary given the intense workload Australia’s elite pacemen face.
“I can see it yeah, potentially,” Hazlewood told the Herald and The Age. “You don’t want to set anything in stone because you might turn up to a Test and only bowl 20 overs, like at the MCG last year (when the match was over at lunch on the third day).
Josh HazlewoodCredit:Getty Images
“So you just take it on the run and see how we pull up each and every time.”
“I think honesty is obviously a big one from the quicks, and we’ve got a great relationship with the support staff and the selectors.”
Australia used six fast bowlers during the Ashes last summer, with Starc the only bowler managing all five Tests.
Hazlewood broke down in the opening Test with a side strain and missed the remainder of the series, while Cummins was ruled out of the second Test in Adelaide because of health protocols after being in the same restaurant as a COVID case.
Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser played in Adelaide but Richardson also broke down and Neser was dropped, allowing Victorian workhorse Scott Boland to make a remarkable Test debut at the MCG. He claimed 6-7 in the second innings on a green pitch as England were bowled out for just 68, losing by an innings and 14 runs to ensure Australia retained the Ashes.
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