Why Pat is so good!

As Australian captain Pat Cummins cleverly dissected the Pakistan batting lineup to bring his team a tough victory in the second Test I thought ldquoWhat does it take to amass Test victimsmdashlots of themrdquo I liken Cummins to the great former Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee in both inspirational qualities and heart size Lillee wanted to get batsmen out to have their number Lillee saysldquoFast bowling is a mental job as well as a physical onerdquoMental side of thingsAt the top of his mark Lillee envisioned the ball flying through to lsquokeeper Rod Marsh taking the delivery at head height standing back Thatrsquos what Lillee means when he talks about the mental side of fast bowling The spectacular delivery that Cummins produced to bowl Pakistanrsquos Babar Azammdashdismissing the oppositionrsquos best batsman once againmdashreminded me of Lilleersquos greatnessAlso ReadIN PHOTOS David Warner Australias Bull raises bat for the last time in testsAustraliarsquos Dennis Lillee during the Leeds Test against England on July 19 1981 PicsGetty ImagesAt the Oval in 1972 a firmly entrenched England wicketkeeper Alan Knott was displaying exceptional grit and determination When Englandrsquos ninth second innings wicket fell for 356 we gathered to congratulate bowler Ashley Mallett Lillee was having none of it and bellowed ldquoWe canrsquot let these bastards score any more runsrdquo At that stage England led by 241 Lillee then bowled the obstinate Knott for a well compiled 63 leaving Australia to chase 242 for a famous victoryAlso Read IN PHOTOS Ranji Trophy Highest run scores in history of the tournamentThat Knott dismissalLillee didnrsquot bowl Knott with pure pacemdashthe delivery was nowhere near his fastest Nor did Lillee beat the bat with movementmdashthe pitch by then was devoid of any green tinge Lillee bowled Knott with sheer will powermdashhe wanted the batsman outLike Lillee Cummins wanted Babar out Itrsquos terrific to bowl a topclass batsman but you also have to rely on the fielders taking catches A good slip fielderrsquos job is to catch the standard ones and occasionally add a blinder to his resume An excellent slip fielder should pouch around 90 per cent of the catches that come his wayPakistan were never noted for their slip catching I recall saying on commentary ldquoInzamamulHaq isnrsquot at first slip because hersquos their best catcherrdquo That same expression applies to current Pakistan firstslip fielder Abdullah Shafique who has grassed eminently catchable chances in both TestsThen there is slip placement If you are fortunate to have an excellent lsquokeeper like Marsh who had the widest rangemdashboth left and rightmdashof any gloveman I saw standing back then the slips can cover a lot of territory That isnrsquot the case in Australia with Pakistan or many other international teamsAt one point in their career the excellent Pakistan pace duo Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis had claimed 60 per cent of their Test and ODI wickets bowled or lbw Thatrsquos an outrageously high figure and suggests the two fast bowlers knew not to trust their own fieldersWith the great improvement in modern bats itrsquos not so much how you bowlmdashTest bowlers are skilfulmdashbut how you perform when a good batsman is attacking Thatrsquos when the best bowlers come to the fore Itrsquos also when you need every bit of the mental fortitude that Lillee speaks about and Cummins exudesOccasionally I hear ldquoAdhere to the process and donrsquot worry too much about the actual consequencesrdquo Well in Pakistanrsquos case they beat the edge of the bat regularly at the MCG but also seemingly with resignation And catches kept going downmdashchances that shouldrsquove been taken and couldrsquove been crucial to the end result because Pakistan had Australia four down and were back in contentionLilleersquos iron willWickets are importantmdashjust ask Cummins One of Lilleersquos great traits was that a batsman had to overcome his enormous skill first which was no easy feat However if he achieved that difficult task he still had to outlast his iron will which took a monumental effortOn those hot demanding days give me a Lillee or a Cummins style character who cares only about not giving in and of taking wickets rather than how the process feels Thatrsquos why great fast bowlers like Lillee and Cummins are a captainrsquos dream and a batsmanrsquos nightmare