"I Had A Lot To Do With Pat Cummins And His Rehab, Rearranging And Helping Him Get His Action.." - Dennis Lillee

The Pat Cummins-led Australia whitewashed England 0-3 in the series, with the visitors suffering their biggest-ever defeat in the 50-over format with a massive 221-run margin in a rain-affected game via the DLS method in the third and final One Day International match of the three-match series at Melbourne Cricket Ground, MCG, on Tuesday, November 22.

Former Australian pacer Dennis Lillee highlighted that he had no worries about Pat Cummins’ recovery from his early injury issues. Cummins had a memorable Test debut in 2011, but had to wait another six years due to a litany of injuries. The 29-year-old became the top-ranked Test bowler in early 2019 and continues to hold that position.

Pat Cummins Was Sensational In His First Test Match – Dennis Lillee

Lillee revealed that he was instrumental in the rehabilitation and injury-free bowling action of Australia’s current ODI and Test captain. Speaking to SEN Mornings, the 73-year-old talked about how Cummins created a sensation on his Test debut and also recalled that Cummins worked extremely hard to achieve great results.

“I had a lot to do with Pat and his rehab, rearranging and helping him get his action back to something that was protected rather than leaving him open for the injuries that occurred early in his career, very early in his career, put him out for four years or so.”

“He was sensational in his first Test match, and you don’t lose the talent, so no, I had no doubts at all, and he didn’t seem to have any either by the way. We spent a lot of time together and he responded and worked bloody hard, and you can see the results. When you’re that good at 18, you’re never going to lose it, it doesn’t matter if you get injured.”

Lille attributes his ability to help others since hanging up his boots to his own injury struggles as a youngster. He stated, “That’s sort of my involvement in cricket since I retired, because I had massive back problems myself and three fractures in my spine at a young age, I had to recover from that. I knew the process and did a lot of study and work on it and ended up, I could fortunately help 90 percent or more of the guys coming through with injury problems.”

Pat Cummins played 43 test matches for Australia, taking 199 wickets at an average of 16.92, including seven fifers. The 29-year-old will next appear in the two-match Test series against the West Indies, which begins on Wednesday, November 30.

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