The pause button has been pressed on Pat Cummins' meteoric rise through the Australian cricket ranks, but Mitchell Johnson says the teenager will bounce back.
The teenage fast bowler was left out of the current tour match against South Africa A leading into the two-Test series, and Johnson said he was not aware of the reasons why it was decided Cummins should carry the drinks in Potchefstroom.
There has been a surge of support from current and former players in recent weeks for Cummins to make his Test debut in the first match in Cape Town next week.
His omission from the practice game, after making such a big impression in the limited overs matches against the Proteas, might be partly down to close monitoring of his workload, and the fact the slightly slower wicket expected at Newlands might not be his best conditions.
Either way, Cummins is not out of the running yet and could come back into consideration for the second Test, on a quicker track in Johannesburg.
Johnson said it was unfortunate the mathematics did not work out for the exciting young talent.
"We could have played all five (fast bowlers in the squad). I'm sure he would have been itching to get out there and have a bowl," said Johnson, who took 4 for 38 from 11 overs on the first day.
"You could see how much bounce and carry it was getting.
"Fast bowlers always love seeing that ... but he will get more opportunities in the future.
"We've got 15 players on tour and you've got to pick 11 so that's just the way it's."
Johnson said the competition between the five quicks was intense but the inter-team rivalry for spots was not on his mind in preparation for the Tests.
"No actually, I wasn't thinking that at all," he said.
"To me it wasn't a contest, we are playing a game against South Africa A, and we want to win ... so that's my main focus anyway.
"We've got a few bowlers who can bowl over that 140-kilometre mark, and we've all got different variations in our bowling.
"So it's going to be a tough one for the selectors.
"There's always spots up for grabs so we'll have to wait and see what the selectors want."
AAP
Tags: cricket, sport, south-africa, australia First posted November 02, 2011 14:04:08
No comments:
Post a Comment