Pat Cummins: Australia captain able to 'find a balance' to avoid burnout

Australia captain Pat CumminsGetty Images

Pat Cummins was made Australia Test captain in November 2021

Australia captain Pat Cummins says he has had to "find a balance" after suffering burnout early in his career.

Cummins, 30, missed the Indian Premier League to rest before this summer's World Test Championship against India, followed by the Ashes in England.

The seamer will then lead Australia at the World Cup in India in the autumn.

"Cricket's 12 months of the year," said Cummins, who made his Test debut aged 18 but then did not play his second for six years because of back injuries.

Speaking to former England footballer Rio Ferdinand on the WeAre8's 'Get Real with Rio' You Tube channel, the Test and one-day captain added: "There's always a cricket game going on somewhere, and I played non-stop for a year or two. This is about four or five years ago, I kind of just came back from injuries.

"I was just spent, like burnt out, and I just remember thinking, 'Jeez, I'm 25 here but I want to do this until I'm 35. I've got to find a way to balance all these different things'."

Last summer, England Test captain Ben Stokes suddenly announced his retirement from playing one-day international games and said it should be a "wake-up call" to cricket's authorities.

England fast bowler Jofra Archer has returned home early from the Indian Premier League, just five weeks before the first Ashes Test begins at Edgbaston on 16 June, as he continues to struggle with injuries.

Cummins left Australia's tour of India in February to return home to be with his terminally ill mother Maria, who died in March from breast cancer.

"It's still pretty raw at the moment but the last couple of months I've been lucky enough to spend loads of time with mum and us kids and dad and sharing those memories," he added.

"It really hits home the kind of person you want to be, the kind of father you want to be.

"From that side it's been good, lots of memories, but in terms of the grief, I guess we'll keep working through that.

"So many people have similar stories and how they have dealt with it helped me, if I can help some other people by speaking about it then I will."

Cummins has also regularly spoken out about climate change and environmental causes and started the Cricket for Climate campaign - designed to encourage community clubs to adopt solar panels and achieve net-zero emissions over the next decade.

Last October, Cricket Australia ended a lucrative sponsorship deal with a power company Alinta Energy, the country's seventh biggest climate polluter.

"There's so much scope for making a change," said Cummins.

"Cricket is very climate dependent, if it's too hot it's unbearable, if there's slight rain you can't play.

"More importantly, I think about my kid, his schooling, his friends and try to do my bit to normalise the conversation and make his future better."

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