Can bat, can bowl: Pat Cummins the great hope

THIS time last year, Pat Cummins was an unassuming 17-year-old fresh out of high school.

Mitchell Johnson Patrick Cummins

THIS time last year, Pat Cummins was an unassuming 17-year-old fresh out of high school, enjoying his first full season of top-grade district cricket alongside his two older brothers.

A year on, life has changed forever for the kid from the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. No pressure, Pat, but you're now officially the great hope of our national game.

Fast-bowler Cummins staged a man-of-the-match performance to deliver Australia victory in the second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg yesterday, taking seven wickets for the match and then hitting the winning runs.

Cummins, the second-youngest cricketer to have played a Test for Australia, yesterday described his rapid ascent from rookie state cricketer to national hero as "unbelievable".

His older brother Tim agreed.

"Just six months ago we were playing cricket together, and now there he is on TV," said Tim, 21, who plays in the Sydney grade competition for Penrith alongside Pat and older brother Matt.

Indeed, it was only a few years ago that the Cummins boys and their two sisters, Laura and Kara, were playing most of their cricket in the backyard of the family's Mount Riverview home. "It's all a bit of a fairytale," Tim told The Australian yesterday.

But that's not to say that Pat's skills weren't recognised early on.

Ian Clarke, a junior representative cricket coach who oversaw Cummins from age 10 to 14, said the youngster "was always a special talent". "I first saw Patrick when my son Josh was playing against him in a junior game in the under 9s. Josh came off the field and said, 'Gee Dad, that guy is pretty quick'," Mr Clarke said. "Patrick could bowl fast and swing the ball both ways from an early age.

"But he's never been one to talk himself up . . . he wasn't one of these kids who walks around telling people that they're going to play for Australia."

Another of his coaches from his junior days, Paul Christian from the Glenbrook-Blaxland club, said Cummins's heroics would hopefully inspire other young cricketers to work harder at their game. "Pat's already well known among some of the juniors at our club. He came back to present some of the kids with their awards at last year's end-of-season presentation, and he was a big hit," Mr Christian said.

Cummins's youth is vital in a national team that has been criticised for being too long in the tooth, with six members of the current Test XI aged 30 or older.

When former skipper Ricky Ponting made his Test debut in 1995, Cummins, who returns home this afternoon, was just two years old.