New Australian captain Pat Cummins appointed as a UNICEF ambassador

As a new father and the captain of Australia Pat Cummins has plenty to juggle, but he is about to embark on another mission close to his heart that has the power to change lives.

Pat Cummins is yet to lead his country onto the pitch but on the eve of the Ashes, Australia’s new cricket captain has already marked off some important firsts.

The only fast bowler to captain an Australian Test side in more than 60 years, Cummins has become the first male cricketer appointed as a UNICEF Australia ambassador.

In the past couple of weeks, as his mooted eventual leadership was accelerated by the sexting scandal that toppled his predecessor Tim Paine, Cummins has also been learning how to be a first time ­father to newborn son Albie.

Pat Cummins with his fiancee Becky Boston and newborn son Albie. Cummins has just been named an ambassador for UNICEF. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Widely considered wise beyond his 28 years, even Cummins admits the past few head-spinning weeks have been “a lot”. But he says he’s more than ready for the challenges of the coming series.

“It took a bit of time to get my head around but I’m feeling in a really good place and excited for it, as opposed to being nervous or anything else,” Cummins says.

Hunkered until recent days in Gold Coast quarantine with partner Becky Boston, whom he had left in Australia just four days after Albie was born to join Australia’s T20 World Cup triumph in Dubai last month, Cummins says he was able to turn off his phone to focus inward as the Test side reeled through its recent shake-up.

Cummins says he’s now ready for a “huge summer”.

Pat Cummins is the spearhead of the Australian pace attack as well as it’s new captain. Picture: Michael Klein

“It came right out of the blue,” he says of his ascendancy. “But I guess in the back of the mind, I always thought one day in the near future, I might be selected as captain. So, I’ve felt like I’ve been preparing for quite a while.

“Knowing it’s such a big Ashes series, it doesn’t get any bigger for a Test team than a home Ashes series and suddenly you’re going to be captaining it.

“It all happened a lot sooner than I would have thought or hoped. But I feel well placed to become captain.

“I think if you asked me that a year ago I wouldn’t be the same. But I spent a lot of time as vice-captain and thinking about the type of captain I would be if it ever happened. So even having the last couple of weeks to kind of set myself up ahead of the series has helped.”

Cummins’ new role with UNICEF Australia was in motion before he got the top job and he considers it a “perfect fit”. Young, principled and willing to offer up his own time and money to support the causes he cares about, Cummins is widely seen as representative of a new generation of leader for a sporting public fatigued with scandal.

UNICEF Australia CEO Tony Stuart said Cummins, who first approached the United Nations agency during the second Covid wave that swept through India when Cummins was playing there, was no ordinary celebrity sportsman.

Pat Cummins has thrown his support behind UNICEF Australia's Indi Kindi program. Picture: IndiKindi.

“In times of crisis, you see what really drives people, and during Covid when some people were complaining about quarantines and this and that Pat reached out to us and wanted to know what he could do to help because he knew first-hand what was happening with Covid in India with families and children,” he said

Cummins’ authenticity and generosity – including an initial $50,000 for aid in India and a further ongoing financial contribution to UNICEF Australia’s Indi Kindi, which delivers mobile early childhood education in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory – stood out.

“We’re pretty sparing at putting on ambassadors, it’s probably one every couple of years,” said Mr Stuart.

“But he is so authentic, so caring, so interested in the betterment of children, not just globally, but also Indigenous children in Australia.”

Mr Stuart said unlike some sports celebrities who delegate to their agents “Pat genuinely got involved himself”.

Cummins and his model fiancee Becky, 31, jumped at the new opportunity.

“We really wanted to do something to help and we didn’t know what it would be,” he said. “When we knew that we had a baby on the way, children’s charity and programs really hit home for us, and that’s really been the deciding thing that really got us motivated the last six months to get involved.”

Cummins, who grew up in the lower Blue Mountains and now owns a Southern Highlands farm, says the family plans a long term involvement.

The Indi Kindi program delivers mobile early childhood education in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. Picture: IndiKindi

“The way Becky and I talk about it we can envisage us taking our kids up there as much as we can,” he says. “We want to be really hands on. We’ll get as much fulfilment out of it as hopefully we can benefit the schools out there.”

But first is the small matter of the coming summer of cricket and newly minted leader Cummins said he was taking a collaborative approach and leaning on his current and former teammates for advice. They include vice-captain Steve Smith, with whom he has a “great relationship”.

“We’ve been mates for over a decade now and it’s great to have him as vice-captain and I’ll be leaning on him a lot on the field,” he said.

Cummins also revealed he’s in close contact with Paine, who had given him some early guidance even as he was standing down.

“His advice was that ‘you’re ready to go, just back yourself in. You’re going to do great’,” Cummins says.

“Having that support from him has been really great, really nice and I’ll be leaning on him and probably pestering all summer for his advice.

Pat Cummins will be planning on retaining the Ashes as Australia’s new captain. Picture: Visionhaus/Getty Images

“He’s captained everyone in the team, just about. He knows them really well, he knows how to get the best out of them. He’s a really good leader and I’ve learnt a lot from him and will continue speaking to him a lot.”

Cummins’ reputation as a good bloke doesn’t hold him back from sharing his deeply held opinions, including overturning cricket lore that dictates against fast bowlers becoming captain. He is the first quick to land the job since Ray Lindwall, briefly, in 1956.

“I’ve always held the belief that you shouldn’t exclude half the team from a leadership role just because of what they do, the role they play in the team,” he said.

He also doesn’t think any of Australia’s pre-Test turmoil has given England an edge for this week’s series opener at the Gabba in Brisbane, saying that it’s just more noise.

And at the end of any challenging days, Cummins knows he will be able to draw strength from his little travelling family, who will join him during the Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney tests.

“(You have) a tough day at cricket and you walk home, and you have your little son in your hands. It gives you a pretty good perspective.”

To support Pat’s work with Indi Kindi and UNICEF Australia go to: www.unicef.org.au/pat