Australia's Fast Bowling Trio Boss Their Own Era

Fast bowlers in the current era, or bowlers in general always seem to have it tough. Two new balls, bigger bats, flatter pitches, and smaller boundaries always make it look like they are against not only the batter but the nature of the sport in general. Actual greatness or the value of a player can be ignored when the player is in the midst of a truly amazing career.

Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc are experiencing the same same. With their careers rolling well they are often not spoken of in the mould of the likes of a Glenn McGrath or Brett Lee. The nature of their careers remains that there are circles frustrated when the trio make themselves available for white-ball cricket after breaks.

Prior to the World Cup, Pat Cummins, the captain himself, was in question. He only led Australia twice in the ODI Format. Coming back from injury, Pat Cummins did not spend too much time with the ODI Team. Fair enough, he had a long tour of England and duty as the Test Captain can be tough.

Their success though speaks for itself. Together, Cummins, Starc, and Hazlewood won a World Cup when they were still in the raw stages of their career. In 2015 they had with them veterans like Mitchell Johnson as well. Later on, the same trio won the T20 World Cup and later the World Test Championship. With Pat Cummins joining the trio in Test Cricket in 2017, the Test journey started a touch later. However, since his arrival, the Australian Team did not concede the Ashes.

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Now, they have another World Cup to their armory. Barring probably away series wins in India and South Africa, the Trio has done it all. Their style of play and journeys adds more value to the body of work they put in.

Mitchell Starc, full and probably the fastest and meanest of the trio has the best strike-rate among them. He is the one who is often looked at when Australia needs a game-changing spell. With the Test team, his role is normally to shake up the top-order while charging in to finish of the tail with his pinpoint yorkers.

Josh Hazlewood, not as fast as Starc or Cummins has a different line of work. Known for his accuracy and ability to get an awkward bounce, Hazlewood initially looked more like a red-ball specialist forced into white-ball cricket. Years in though Hazlewood has changed the viewer’s approach to him. In 2015 he was often seen bowling his overs as soon as possible, keeping him as far as possible from the death overs.

Hazlewood was left out of the 2019 World Cup. In 2021 though, Hazlewood, with his ability to hit a hard length backed and also his changes of pace, became a complete white-ball bowler. The complete bowler of the lot though is probably Pat Cummins.

He has pace, can swing, and takes the tough job of bowling with an older ball. He is often the one who makes things happen when Australia really needs to break a partnership. His position in the ODI side despite being captain is often under question with his frequent unavailability due to workload management.

In the Finals though it was he who broke the game open. In fact, throughout the tournament, Pat Cummins has been the one to do the job when the going got tough. He started the charge against Sri Lanka, dismissing both openers when they were cruising at 125 for 2.

Coming to India though, their threat seemed to be nullified. Mitchell Starc, the leading wicket-taker in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups was not picking wickets at regular intervals. Josh Hazlewood, accurate as ever, did not find wickets as easily too. Pat Cummins, bowling the harder overs looked the worst of the lot with a poor average and economy rate.

The pitches had no swing. For the Finals as well, the track used was supposed to be kryptonite for them. When it mattered the most though, Australia found a way through. They put India in to bat, and looked to restrict one of the best openers in the tournament and the best batter, who comes in at number three.

With no life in the track, it looked tough for the Australians. Rohit Sharma charged at them early. Pat Cummins though was at the centre of it all. Silent with the ball all tournament he saved his best for the Finals. Getting bounce of a really slow track and bowling some incredible slower balls kept him in and had him go at a really economical rate.

He silenced the crowd as he wanted to, getting Virat Kohli who could not do much against a delivery that bounced in an awkward manner. It was the Cummins show throughout. They went on to get the white-ball to reverse-swing and restricted India as they planned.

Pat Cummins, after all the questions over his job joined a small group of fast bowling captains to win a World Cup. To do so in the subcontinent, with a trio of pacers who are supposed to be nullified is all the more satisfying. In the end, though, Australia proved that one can never count out a quality fast bowler. To Australia’s credit, they have three in their line-up and not one. The trio now stand as World Champions yet again.