Cummins keen to bowl alongside Pattinson

Injured Australia speedster Patrick Cummins is hoping to form a formidable new-ball pair for the national side with James Pattinson.

The 18-year-old Cummins, recovering from a heel injury after his match-winning performance against South Africa in Johannesburg back in November, feels that both he and Pattinson have a similar approach to bowling.

Cummins has the ability to break the 150kmph speed limit and hopes to use this ability to shake up opposition batsmen. He is keen to do it in tandem with his strapping friend from Dandenong.

"Not only is he bowling quick and swinging the ball but he's really intimidating the batsmen," Cummins said of Pattinson.

"We probably have similar game plans in that respect. To be able to bowl at the the same time would be an exciting prospect. I've played a couple of one-dayers with 'Patto' and a couple of Twenty20s, but never opened the bowling with him. It'd be really exciting to be down the other end to him," Cummins was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.

"We're both classified as the young guys in the team so we definitely hang out in and around the games, and I obviously toured South Africa with him and we also had a couple of training camps up in Brisbane together throughout the off-season. So we've really got to know each other pretty well."

Sheer pace is all of a sudden a real asset for Australia, with an outstanding Peter Siddle also bowling regularly in the high 140kmph zone in one of his finest outings at the MCG.

Speed comes naturally to Cummins, but what Pattinson has brought to Clarke's line-up as Tuesday's second Test in Sydney looms is an ability to maintain the rage without losing his shape.

"I think it's really nice to be able to bowl that quick," Cummins said. "In most situations, it puts yourself in the best position to get a wicket."

"In Test matches, it's a goal to try and maintain that for as long as possible, but if pace comes at the expense of losing accuracy there's not much point in bowling it because you're going to leak runs and wickets aren't going to come as often. Patto and 'Sidds' have shown you can bowl with great pace but also excellent accuracy."

Cummins, who took seven wickets in his debut Test match with figures of 6/79 in an innings feels that at the international level, one needs to shift gears.

"I think when you get up to a Test match, you just step up to another gear. You're pumped and the adrenalin is running. I knew (Pattinson) was certainly a very quick bowler and to show it out there, I guess it probably didn't really surprise me. But the great thing to see was how he maintained it. All his spells are of a great, consistent pace and it's great to watch."