Pat Cummins came within a whisker of his first Test hat-trick
Pat Cummins came within a whisker of his first Test hat-trick that would’ve capped off a stunning spell — but the star quick has revealed just why he lost the magic touch when he needed it most.
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Pat Cummins is used to lucky breaks on hat-trick balls but a piece of MCG magic just wasn’t to be.
At the same ground where David Boon took a memorable driving grab to his right at short leg for Shane Warne’s famous hat-trick in 1994, history very nearly repeated itself.
Albeit, standing further back towards square leg, Marcus Harris threw himself at a whippy Rohit Sharma shot and appeared desperately close to snaring a classic hat-trick for the comeback kid of Australian fast bowling, Cummins.
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Television replays indicated it was a desperate near miss and Cummins certainly reacted like a man who knew a rare moment in history was missed by only the barest of margins.
But Cummins admits he might have just been out of luck.
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Not only was the 25-year-old attempting to bowl a bouncer, which didn’t get up, he reckons he might have used all his hat-trick good fortune up on former Test opener Joe Burns in a second XI game for NSW when the pair were juniors.
“I’ve got two (hat-tricks), one in second XI and one in grade cricket,” Cummins revealed.
“The one in second XI, Joe Burns was my third wicket. I bowled a slower ball and he ducked underneath it and it was a full toss that hit the stumps on the full!
“I was trying to bowl a bouncer (against Sharma) to be honest. I think it only got up to his waist. I don’t think I could have had enough luck that I would have got a hat-trick.”
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Upon consultation with the fielder Harris — who had already taken two of the previous leg-side catches in Cummins’ ferocious spell — the big quick might have felt slightly better.
“I was pretty excited but I think it was well, well out of reach,” said Cummins.
“I think he said if he was a metre taller maybe or something like that.
“I think it was wishful thinking.”
Cummins had 4-2 at one point in a dazzling eight-ball blitzkrieg, but admits he’s feeling weary after the disastrous batting collapse forced him and the bowlers back into the field for what will now be four consecutive days in sapping heat.
“I’m pretty tired after (Thursday). Pretty exhausted,” he said.
“I think the good thing coming into this series was I felt really fresh and the first two Tests didn’t feel like I had massive workloads.
“I feel tired but I haven’t felt like this for a while so it’s probably a pretty normal feeling to be honest.
“But hopefully not too many overs tomorrow and we don’t have to bowl last this game.
“Hopefully there’s a four or five day break before Sydney. I’m a bit tired but nothing too serious.”
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