Pat Cummins enjoyed a sensational Test debut, taking a match total seven wickets to set up a thrilling two-wicket win to square the series against South Africa at the Wanderers. Not bad for an 18-year-old. A pacey new-ball bowler, Cummins made his debut for New South Wales during the 2010-11 season. He was particularly impressive in his maiden Big Bash season - he topped the bowling charts with 11 wickets at 14.09, conceding only 6.59 runs an over. Touted to be a future leader of Australia's pace attack, he was offered a central contract for 2011-12 in June, becoming the youngest player to be contracted since the current system was introduced in 1998. And in September 2011 he toured South Africa, where he made a name for himself.

Then injuries struck. A lot of them. He did not play another Test for six years, until the 2017 tour of India, but all the pain and rehab of those intervening years appeared to have been worthwhile as his body toughened up to the rigors of international cricket. In 2017-18 he played five consecutive Tests against England followed by four in South Africa, forming a thoroughbred pace trio alongside Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

In an indication of how carefully Cummins is being managed, by late 2018 more than half his first-class appearances had been Tests. He took at-the-time career-best match figures of 9 for 141 against South Africa in Johannesburg, the match after Australia's world had fallen in on them in Cape Town. Cummins has a vital role in the future.
ESPNcricinfo staff