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Australia captain Pat Cummins has hinted at missing next year's Test series against Sri Lanka due to the birth of his second child. The 31-year-old said he missed a significant portion of his first child's (son Albie) initial days and that he is keen to spend more time with family, going forward.
Cummins' wife Becky Boston is due to give birth to their second child in late January or early February. However, the date is likely to clash with the decisive two-Test series (Warne-Muralitharan Trophy) in Sri Lanka, the schedule of which is yet to be announced.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, here's what Cummins said:
"Yeah it’s definitely a factor. We haven’t worked out exactly what that looks like – it’s pretty hard to plan exactly the day, but definitely. I missed a big chunk [of son Albie’s early days] last time and I want to work out how we can spend a bit more time at home for that initial period this time around."
Over the years, several cricketers have skipped tours and series for the birth of their children. Indian star Virat Kohli had played only one of the four Tests in Australia during the 2020-21 series. He also skipped the entire five-Test rubber earlier this year against England at home for the same reason.
"You can’t just ask them to put their life on hold to go tour the world" - Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins feels cricketers are always going to put their family above everything else as it's not possible to ignore them for careers. The New South Wales speedster claimed in the same interview:
"Within reason, no one is ever going to bat an eyelid if someone needs to put their family first. We’re playing cricket, it’s not the end of the world, so we want people to have long, successful careers for Australia, and you can’t just ask them to put their life on hold to go tour the world and forget about everything else. We’re pretty open when it comes to family."
Australia will commence their home summer with a three-game ODI series against Pakistan on November 4 at the MCG.
