Australian captain Pat Cummins opens up on the grief of losing his mother

As he spoke about dealing with the grief of losing his mother, Test captain Pat Cummins also opened up on his future plans.

Pat Cummins admits finding balance between cricket and the rest of his life has been central to his rise to Australian Test captaincy after being “burnt out” by the relentless nature of the schedule in the early part of his career.

The national captain also said the death of his mother earlier this year, which forced him to leave the Test tour of India, was “still raw” as he prepared for a massive period of cricket in England, including the Ashes.

Cummins has declared he wants to play until he’s 35 and to get there he’s had to readjust his life after being consumed by cricket when he finally returned from a long run of injuries that kept him sidelined for almost six years.

“Cricket‘s basically 12 months of the year; there’s always a cricket game going on somewhere, and I played non-stop for a year or two,” Cummins told Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand for WeAre8’s Get Real with Rio program.

“This is about four or five years ago (when) I kind of just came back from injuries.

“And I was just spent, like burnout and I just remember thinking, ‘Geez I’m 25 here but I want to do this until I’m 35’, I’ve got to find a way to balance all these different things.”

Pat Cummins with his mother Maria (left) and sisters Laura and Kara in Cardiff in 2015. Picture: Instagram

Cummins, 29, said he made a concerted effort to find things outside cricket, including family, his establishment of Cricket for Climate to reduce the sport’s carbon footprint and other business interests to prolong his career.

Despite being criticised for his climate change activism, Cummins plans to not only remain actively involved but to increase his activity.

“We’d (Cricket for Climate) love to go overseas, India, England, there’s so much scope for making a change in those places,” Cummins said.

“I try to do my little bit to normalise the conversation and make a bit of difference to make his (son Albie) future a bit better.

“I‘d love to sit back in 10-20 years and just show the huge impact we’ve made.”

Cummins will lead Australia against India in the World Test Championship final ahead of the Ashes. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Cummins said he was still coming to terms with the loss of his mother Maria, who died in March after a long battle with cancer, and was using the experience to learn things about himself.

“It‘s still pretty raw at the moment but the last few months been lucky enough to spend loads of time with mum,” he said.

“But (also) us as kids, and (with) dad, and just sharing all those memories together.

“I think it hits home the kind of person you want to be, the kind of father you want to be, so from that side, it’s been quite good. Lots of memories.

“But in terms of the grief, I guess we’ll keep working through that.”

Cummins will return to lead Australia in the final of the World Test Championship final against India at The Oval in London on June 7 before the Ashes gets under way on June 16.