‘Some things you won’t budge on’: Cummins responds to constant off-field criticism

Unfortunately, his critics find it impossible to simply respect the achievements of this Australian team under his watch without referencing his so-called “woke” leanings.

It’s all borne out of Cummins being outspoken on a number of social issues in recent years.

Surely that’s his prerogative if he so chooses – remember that well worn line about the PM and the Aussie cricket captain in the country’s pecking order of importance?

But the tired W-word is wheeled out whenever Cummins is in the public eye, which has obviously been a lot lately due to the team’s success under his watch.

The team taking a knee during the Black Lives Matter movement, Cummins’ strong stance on climate change, supporting the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum – it has all resulted in an unshakeable view among many that Cummins must be “woke”.

The fast bowler has said with a laugh in the past “I don’t even know what ‘woke’ means”, but he is unshakeable in the issues that matter to him.

“There’s some things that you don’t want to budge on,” Cummins said in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald.

“You can’t just leave your values at the door.”

Asked where his values had originated, Cummins’ reply will be kindling to his match stick clutching critics: “I love this country.

“So I think there’s areas that we should celebrate and there’s areas that we can always improve, just like anywhere else in the world.

“But yeah, I’d say from my parents and family. You know, mum and dad have always been very clearly focused on what’s important and that’s always been instilled in us kids.

“I think also playing cricket, and travelling the world for 12 years, opens your eyes.

“You meet hundreds, thousands of people along the way, and that always helps shape who you are and how you think.”

Cummins was also asked about his ascension to the Australian captaincy in November 2021 and if he was intimidated.

It came in the wake of first Steve Smith and then Tim Paine being stripped of the title in highly controversial circumstances.

“Yeah, I was, for sure,” he said. “Especially to see two really good mates having their tenures end the way they did.

“It felt like I was walking straight into it, a little bit.

“I love putting everything into bowling and I wasn’t sure how the added dimension of captaincy, which I hadn’t really done before, was going to affect it.

“But since I was a kid, learning all about the history of cricket, you know the Australian captaincy is a big thing, so I felt a real sense of responsibility.”

Cummins also had the perfect response when asked if the criticism takes a toll.

“Sometimes it’s frustrating,” he said. “You feel like you want to explain why you did what you did.

“But if you did that every time, you wouldn’t have a minute left in your day.”