Review of Tested, new book by Pat Cummins
Fast bowlers are often lost in cliches like being fast and furious. There is a truth to these attributes, but often the descriptions tend to overlook their invisible thinking hats.
A Michael Holding can hold forth beautifully on cricket and the world until his daughter's phone-call interrupts and he becomes a loving dad. An Ian Bishop will stay abreast of the sport's evolution and latest stars. A Dennis Lillee will pen a magnificent treatise calledThe Art of Fast Bowling.In this list of speed merchants revealing intellect, Pat Cummins is the latest entrant.
The Australian spearhead and skipper'sTested is a book on decisions, choices, thoughts and instinct, and the way they all combine to shape and impact lives. Cummins, with the aura he has, could have easily written about himself but instead he declares: 'I didn't want to focus on myself, as I might with a memoir.'
No man is an island
He meets people from diverse fields and probes verbally, and it is similar to what he does with either a red cherry or a white ball on the pitch. The tome is split into 11 chapters and every part is an extended conversation with an expert in their relevant field. In the beginning, Cummins writes: 'All problems can be solved.' It is a template he follows while leading the Aussie unit and it is also a theme all his interviewees adhere to without realising it consciously.
The assembly of luminaries is eclectic be it former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, cancer researcher Richard Scolyer, producer Ronnie Screwvala, Lillee, or even the author's spouse Becky. The structure is woven around informal questions and the answers are then juxtaposed with how Cummins himself has approached a few critical points, both in his life and in cricket.
Even if it is a book about the can-do-spirit evident in strong individuals, this is not like Ayn Rand'sThe Fountainhead,a work of heavy fiction that celebrated staunch individualism, as Cummins is clear that 'no one does anything alone'. You could glean a philosophical nugget from any chapter, and therein lies the charm of this book.
vijayakumar.kc@thehindu.co.in
Tested Pat Cummins HarperCollins India ₹499
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