5 Pat Cummins

Patrick Cummins

Having burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old who topped the wicket-taker list in the 2010/11 Big Bash League, Pat Cummins was quickly identified as a future star. Soon enough in 2011/12, the Sydney boy became the youngest player ever to earn a central contract with Cricket Australia. On the back of just a handful of first-class games, he was thrown into the deep end of Test cricket against South Africa in 2011. Showing no signs of nerves, he took 6-79 in the second innings and hit the winning runs to be named man-of-the-match in Australia’s narrow win. After a long run of injuries, Cummins returned to the NSW side for the Marsh One Day Cup and was part of the Australian squad that won the 2015 ODI World Cup. After careful management and working his way back to full fitness in shorter forms of the game, Cummins became a Test fixture from the 2017/18 Ashes onwards, spearheading an enviable pace attack alongside Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. As of Jan 2020, he is the world’s No.1 ranked bowler in Test cricket and No.5 in ODI cricket - the highest ranked Australian.

Named player of the match in his Test debut against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2011, Cummins claimed 6-79 in the second innings and hit the winning runs in a thrilling two-run victory!