As Pat Cummins faced further investigations into his ailing back, South African tearaway Dale Steyn suggested the key to keeping the fiery young quick on the field is better man management.
Cummins had scans on a sore back on Wednesday which proved inconclusive, prompting team physio Alex Kountouris to summon the 19-year-old to Melbourne for a more thorough examination.
There are concerns that Cummins, among the brightest fast bowling prospects on the planet, has picked up another side strain like the one which ended his one-day tour of England in June.
Over the past 18 months, Cummins has almost exclusively played the shorter forms of the game as he attempts to recover from various ailments, including a heel complaint which sidelined him for all of the home summer Tests last season.
His Test debut against South Africa in November last year, in which he earned man-of-the-match honours, is Cummins’ most recent first-class match.
However, he played in the Sydney Sixers’ triumphant Champions League Twenty20 tournament and the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka before that.
Steyn felt empathetic towards Cummins’ recent troubles and urged Cricket Australia to take better care of the right-arm speedster, hinting he had been playing too much white-ball cricket in recent weeks.
“It’s a shame … I feel for Pat because he’s got something,” Steyn said.
“He’s got some pace about him.
“He’s young. He’s going to have a long future – he’s just got to sort himself out.
“… I don’t know what all the problems are that he’s having. But he’s young and I’ve seen him a lot on TV which means he’s playing a lot of cricket at a young age.
“Hopefully, they can manage him a little bit better. I’m not his physical trainer or anything like that. But hopefully, if they can manage him well, it might prolong his career.”
Steyn, who has shown remarkable durability over a 57-Test career considering the express pace he generates, puts much of his ability to stay on the park down to the way he has been kept away from one-day games by Cricket South Africa.
The 29-year-old has played just 66 one-day matches for his country and, when asked to pinpoint how he’s been able to avoid serious injuries, Steyn said: “Good man management, I guess.
“…I think for someone who has played as many Test matches as I’ve played, I should’ve played double the amount of one-day games that I’ve played.
“But Cricket South Africa have really looked after me from that perspective. They’ve managed me well.”
