AFTER five years in an injury-enforced wilderness, Pat Cummins simply refuses to entertain the idea of being fast-tracked back into the Australian Test team.
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Cummins is rebuilding his career after a string of back problems, taking the new ball in the four-day Australian Futures League match for NSW at North Dalton Park on Monday.
He picked up the early scalp of hard-hitting ACT opener Aiden Blizzard, before completing short spells as part of his management program.
The 23-year-old is eyeing an international return in the one-day team for first match against New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground on December 4.
Then his goal for the summer is being part of the NSW Sheffield Shield campaign, including a return to Wollongong in February when the Blues take on Tasmania.
But following the upheaval in the Test arena, which saw Joe Burns, Adam Voges and Peter Nevill dumped for the third Test against South Africa starting on Thursday, Cummins said wearing the Baggy Green again was not yet on his agenda.
“Not really, to be honest,” he said.
“I’ve got a pretty good plan, for one-day cricket and I want to play some shield cricket.
“I know I’ve got to play some shield cricket to get back into the Test side.
“I don’t want to rush anything, just stick to the plan and put in some good performances and then talk about some other stuff.”
Cummins stunned international cricket, taking six second-innings wickets and being part of a match-winning ninth-wicket stand with Mitch Johnson, to beat South Africa in Johannesburg in November 2011.
But it’s the only time he’s ever played a Test, as he struggled with at times career-threatening injuries.
The right-arm quick has regained much-needed confidence by playing six of the eight one-day matches as NSW took out the domestic crown again last month.
“Its been pretty good, a consistent build-up for the last couple of months,” he said. “The best thing about bowling with the red ball is to bowl different spells,” he said.
“I started off with a six-over spell (Monday) morning and working through three or four spells.
“It’s a whole different rhythm to what you get in Twenty20 and one-day cricket, which I love, and it certainly feels like I’ve got a rhythm and consistentcy where I want it to be.”
Blizzard and Cummins are Sydney Thunder teammates, along with South Coast talent Nathan McAndrew, playing in the ACT team in Wollongong this week.