Cummins keen to surprise in Scorchers debut

Injured quick Pat Cummins is set to make his long-awaited Perth Scorchers debut against Adelaide Strikers at the WACA Ground on Thursday after being cleared to play by Cricket Australia.

Cummins was re-instated to the Scorchers squad by the Big Bash League Technical Committee today after proving his fitness with two consecutive games of grade cricket in the past fortnight.

His return sees Ryan Duffield removed from the BBL side's 18-man squad.

The 20-year-old fast bowler has been on the Scorchers' roster for two seasons but has yet to play a game for the side due to injury, most recently battling a persistent back injury.

Speaking today, he said he felt good during his return to cricket with local club Perth and was relieved to finally be playing for the Scorchers at The Furnace.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Cummins said.

“Hopefully on Thursday I get a run and it will be good to be back for the boys.

“The first week was a little bit scratchy and then really happy with how I went on the weekend.

“Outside of that I have been bowling in the nets every couple of days for the last five or six weeks.

“I feel really confident with where my body is at and I feel like it’s coming out OK so hopefully I will let loose in the game.”

Cummins was unsure how fast he was bowling, but hoped to get his pace up in his four overs on Thursday.

He said he had previously been measured at in excess of 150kmh in India.

“I haven’t had a TV radar on me for probably 12 months so I am going to get a bit of a surprise on Thursday so we will see how it goes,” he said.

“Accuracy and mixing up the pace is probably as important as speed so hopefully it gets up there.”

Cummins' inclusion is a massive boost for the Scorchers as they attempt to solidify a spot in the competition's top two with just two games remaining before the semifinals.

A win over the Strikers at the would all but guarantee the side a spot in the finals for the third consecutive season.