Cricket: Opener's Cumming of age

Keep your eyes on the ball, says Craig Cumming. Picture / Fotopress

Craig Cumming had the advice of former batting great Glenn Turner echoing in his thoughts as he made his test debut yesterday.

The latest in a long line of opening batting experiments, Cumming turned in an encouraging performance on the opening day of the test series against Australia, surviving the first session of the match before being caught for 74.

The effort would have come as something of a relief for coach John Bracewell, who has seen his opening batting options dwindle over the past few months following the retirement of Mark Richardson, the form loss of Mathew Sinclair, and the head-injury suffered by Michael Papps.

Cumming, 29, might not have been Bracewell's first choice, but he went a long way to becoming his preferred option yesterday, employing his Turner-tutored method to telling effect against the finest bowling attack in the world.

Turner - Cumming's Otago coach - is considered one of the world's finest batting coaches, having used what was regarded as one of the tightest techniques in the game to score no less than 103 first-class centuries.

"I haven't spoken to him over the past few days but I don't need to, really - I know what he'd be saying from past experience," said Cumming.

"He'd be encouraging me to trust in my processes, to work hard, get fully prepared and to concentrate on my job.

"I've had a lot of guidance from him. I know how he goes about things, and I know that, above all, he'd want me to try and enjoy the challenge of test cricket."

Remarkably, Cumming was spared the extra pressure of having to face Brett Lee yesterday after the Australian selectors defied almost all belief and plumped for their tried-and-true pace trio of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz.

It meant a degree of relief for the test rookie, who last weekend faced deliveries of more than 160km/h as Lee began possibly the fastest over of fast-bowling seen in New Zealand.

However, Cumming said that with McGrath, Gillespie and Kasprowicz working so well as a combination, there were no soft options for the batsmen, as the incumbents were persistently demanding, and the opportunity to play scoring shots would be limited.

Realising the size of the task in front of him, Cumming prepared in front of a fully throttled bowling machine, and reminded himself of the key factors involved when survival is the initial priority.

"A lot of it just comes down to keeping your head still, body position and watching the ball," he said.

"I've got some things which I try to refine and work hard on, but they're the basic tenets of facing fast-bowling - and especially the watching-the-ball part."

Cumming should have some idea of what he's talking about. His initial introduction to the one-day scene involved 10 consecutive matches against a Pakistan side that included genuine fast-bowlers in Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami.

His latest two one-dayers came this month after Brett Lee knocked over Michael Papps in the third ODI at Auckland, and although he was unable to make a meaningful contribution, he was delighted to have an early look at the opposition attack.

"It was really beneficial to face them all, to see their actions and the lengths and lines that they bowl.

"A bit of familiarity helps when you want to do a bit of visualisation, so for me it was a useful experience; it means a test against these guys isn't so much a journey into the unknown."

Cumming, who made his representative debut for Canterbury 12 years ago, said there was a lot of excitement associated with playing test cricket, but that he didn't altogether agree with some of the comments made by Australian opening batsmen Justin Langer.

Langer said he didn't care what anyone said, there was a fear factor involved in batting against express-fast bowlers, and that anyone who tried to deny it was not being entirely honest.

"Having faced Shoaib Akhtar last summer and Shaun Tait last week, there's always some sort of fear factor," said Langer.

"I've been probably saying for 10 years that I love facing fast-bowling and it's a great challenge and all the cliches, but I can tell you, anyone who says that [there is no fear] is lying to you.

"There is always that little fear factor in the back of your mind."

But Cumming said he would never allow an emotion as negative as fear to influence his decision-making, and that he only felt keyed-up and excited at the idea of facing a genuine fast-bowler.

"Some people might call it fear, but I just feel adrenalin and excitement, and the sense of a great challenge."