By Chris Barrett and Jesse Hogan
STEVE WAUGH, former Australian captain and co-author of the Argus report, has described as ''ridiculous'' Cricket Australia's promotion of young bowlers like Patrick Cummins to Test cricket before their bodies have been readied for its rigours.
Cummins, 18, was yesterday ruled out of the entire Test summer after the heel injury he sustained during his match-winning performance on debut against South Africa last month proved to be worse than first thought.
A bone scan revealed the teenager has the beginnings of a stress fracture and will not return to bowling until mid-January.
Waugh, one of three former Test captains who assisted in the review of Australian team performance led by ex-BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus, claims Cummins's injury is symptomatic of a wider error in how bowlers are handled.
Too soon ... Patrick Cummins.Credit: Getty Images
He argues that pacemen are not spending enough time in the nets, and, like the richly talented but inexperienced Cummins, are being promoted before their bodies are properly prepared. Cummins was selected by the former selection panel headed by Andrew Hilditch to make his Test debut in Johannesburg after only three first-class appearances. He bowled 65 overs in the Sheffield Shield final in March and broke down with stress-related hot spots in his back afterwards.
''It's pretty ridiculous that you've got young blokes who are talented and take the next step but haven't had enough overs under their belt,'' Waugh told the Herald. ''Maybe they're not match-hardened enough for that next level.
''Pat bowled a lot of overs in the final of the Shield, and all of a sudden had a back problem. He bowls a lot overs in the Test and has a heel problem. You've got to look at why people are getting injured. With bowlers they actually don't have enough net bowling these days, they're not battle-hardened enough for the demands of playing cricket.''
The Herald reported yesterday that a review into Cricket Australia's approach to injury management had begun, headed by CA's sports science and sports medicine manager Peter Blanch.
"You've got to look at why people are getting injured. With bowlers they actually don't have enough net bowling these days, they're not battle-hardened enough for the demands of playing cricket" ... Steve Waugh.Credit: Getty Images
Waugh believes the time quicks spend bowling in practice should also be reviewed. ''Cricket is a very specific type of fitness you can only get by bowling balls in the nets,'' said Waugh, who will roll his arm over himself in the Battle of the Smashers celebrity Twenty20 match at Drummoyne Oval on Sunday week.
''You can't do it by going to the gym. We've probably gone too far the other way of protecting bowlers who probably used to bowl too much in the nets … they don't bowl enough in the nets. When they get to the demands of first-class and Test cricket their bodies really aren't strong enough.
''You talk to people like Courtney Walsh and Glenn McGrath and Kapil Dev - these guys, as soon as they stopped bowling, that's when they got in trouble. If they kept bowling they knew they were going to be fine. It's not the same for everybody but you've got to have the number of miles in the engine almost to be ready to play at that next level.''
Cummins was not officially ruled out of Australia's entire four-Test series against India but he may has well have been. A return to bowling in midway through next month will not give him enough time to be ready for the fourth Test, starting in Adelaide on January 24, although Cummins hopes to be fit for the last Test.
''To play Test cricket you need to be bowling a lot [beforehand]. The probably is now he's not going to bowl for anywhere between four and six weeks, depending on how he's going,'' Australian team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said.
''To get his workload back up - and he hasn't got a lot of bowling under his belt in general, he hasn't got five years of bowling like a Mitchell Johnson, someone we can bring back quickly - it's going to be hard to bring him back up for the latter part of the Indian series.''
Kountouris agreed that injuries stemming from Cummins's past two first-class matches and the Shield final were a concern but said the latest problem may be a biomechanical issue, suggesting the teenager could require orthotics or taping in his shoes because of the way his heel hits the ground.
While Waugh has issue with young bowlers being promoted prematurely he is a huge fan of Cummins and believes his express pace would have been a real asset against the likes Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.
''He would have unsettled those guys and with he and [James] Pattinson together that would have been a real test for the 35-pluses in the Indian side, who have been playing in pretty flat decks and against not really quick attacks,'' Waugh said. ''It would have been great for the crowds to see that. India will be very pleased not to see Pat Cummins in the side.''