The World Test Championship final against India at the Kia Oval will see the seamer reach the half-century landmark for appearances in the longest format. He hopes it will be the first of several milestones during the English summer
Pat Cummins is targeting playing all six Tests, including the entire Ashes series, during Australia's jaunt in England.
The 30-year-old has managed his schedule carefully in recent years after a succession of injuries blighted the early stages of his international career.
He comes into the World Test Championship final starting on Wednesday (June 7) against India having not bowled a ball in competitive anger in almost four months, after opting to skip the Indian Premier League.
A run of six Tests in seven weeks will challenge the durability of Australia's Test captain - Michael Neser, Scott Boland, Mitch Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Cameron Green and Josh Hazlewood are all part of the wider group of seam options - but he is confident he will play a full part.
Cummins on his Test debut in Johannesburg - but it would be over five years until his next (ALEXANDER JOE/AFP via Getty Images)
"It's a balance," Cummins said. "I've been exhausted and depleted before but still got up and felt like I did a really good job. If that comes up at any stage, of course, it's a conversation.
"But I'll be aiming to play all six and there's some good breaks in between every batch of two Tests matches here.
"It's manageable. Cam Green helps out a little bit as well with the amount of overs he can bowl."
Australia in England 2023Wednesday, June 7-Sunday, June 11: World Test Championship final v India (Kia Oval)Friday, June 16-Tuesday, June 20: 1st Test v England (Edgbaston)Wednesday, June 28-Sunday, July 2: 2nd Test v England (Lord's)Thursday, July 6-Monday, July 10: 3rd Test v England (Headingley)Wednesday, July 19-Sunday, July 23: 4th Test v England (Old Trafford)Thursday, July 27-Monday, July 31: 5th Test v England (Kia Oval)
The clash at the Kia Oval will see Cummins become the 37th man to bring up 50 Tests for Australia.
Various foot, heel, ankle, hip and back injuries - stress fractures in his spine meant a 1,946-day gap between his first and second Tests - down the years have jeopardised Cummins' future in the five-day format so there is understandably great satisfaction in reaching the landmark.
"I thought getting back into Test cricket was so far away for a lot of that," he said. "I felt that maybe I could play a T20 or one-day cricket, but my body, [after] 10 overs a day I would wake up and felt like I had a car crash.
Constant battles with injury appear to be a thing of the past for Cummins (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
"Looking back now, all the physios and people who went through this before me were spot on. Stay patient, you will turn a corner and be right. But when you're in your fifth cycle of stress fractures, 50 Tests feels like a long way away.
"Longevity, I always look at it as big of an achievement as average or strike rates or anything to do with performance.
"Test cricket is tough. You play all around the world, different conditions. Physically it is demanding. So as a fast bowler to play 50, it is something to be pretty proud of. Particularly because for five or six years it felt like one [more] Test match was a long way away."
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