Pat Cummins relies on Green and Marsh to ‘get the job done’ against India in Border-Gavaskar series

Australia Test captain Pat Cummins says he and the management rely on the two all-rounders – Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh to play a handy role with the ball as the hosts aim to win back the coveted Border-Gavaskar trophy. With Team India set to tour Australia for five Tests later this year, Cummins wants both all-rounders to ‘get the job done’ this time.

Australia played with the same bowling attack across seven Tests last summer (against Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand), with the quicks enjoying brief outings.

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With none of the matches going till the fifth day and only three times Australia bowled over 78 overs in an innings, the star trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Cummins didn’t burn out.

Cummins admitted that the upcoming summer (regarding workload) will be different from the previous ones.

"It's been huge [having the all-rounders]," Cummins said.

"In some ways, we haven't had to use them as much as we thought we would. Which is a great thing. The last couple of summers have been pretty light [with] quick Test matches.

"I suspect this summer might be a bit different at the time. We'll be drawing on Cam Green and Mitch Marsh a bit more. Even someone like Cam basically started in Shield cricket as a bowler but hasn't had to bowl heaps in Test matches. Now he is a few years older, I think we will be leaning on him a bit more," the Test captain noted.

Uncertainty over batting order

Although talks are going on about Steve Smith’s batting position since he moved up the order after David Warner’s departure, Cummins confirmed that irrespective of uncertainty around the batting order, Green and Marsh will play the first Test this summer.

"The first point is they both absolutely make the top six on their batting alone, which is a luxury," Cummins said at the launch of Play Cricket Week.

"We're really lucky that Nathan Lyon bowls plenty of overs, so you don't necessarily have to have an all-rounder, but it makes a big difference to have that fifth bowling option. And with someone like Cam and Mitch, we have six bowling options. It's a really nice thing to have. Top six should always make the team on their batting,” Cummins continued.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia rested the ace seamer for the upcoming UK Tour with an eye on managing his workload.

(With inputs from agencies)