Pat Cummins left his mother's bedside-in-waiting for a cricket tour of India, believing with a quiet certainty that time with her was finite, and found his body on the field while his mind stayed at home. Her death in May 2023 turned that absence into a lesson he now carries into the captaincy. Across a sport that asks men to live out of suitcases, he is asking his players to take the hours that remain and make them full. It is a small, human recalibration within a long tradition of athletes learning, too late or just in time, what the calendar is really for.
Pat Cummins Says His Mother's Death Has Reshaped How Australia Approaches Life on Tour
Cummins' mother, Maria, died in May 2023 after receiving palliative care, while he was away on tour in India.
My mind was not in India. It was back home the whole time.
Mark
Cummins left the India tour after two Tests. Why is he talking about it now?
Mimi
He was a guest on The Imperfects, a podcast about hard stretches in people's lives that the public doesn't always see. He described being in India while his mother, Maria, was in decline, and said his mind was at home the whole time.
Mark
And that has changed how he captains?
Mimi
By his account, yes. Along with the COVID hotel-room years, it led him to encourage players to use their time on tour: golf, coffee machines, a show in London.
Luke
That's his own account of his thinking. The reporting doesn't include teammates describing how the culture actually changed.
Mark
Fair. What's the most concrete example we have?
Mimi
The Springsteen night in Birmingham. After a full day in the field in the first Ashes Test, he took his father to a two-and-a-half-hour show.
Luke
It's a good anecdote, but it's one night. It shows his attitude, not a team-wide policy.
Mark
The piece points to results, though.
Mimi
A World Test Championship, the Ashes retained, the ODI World Cup, and five wins in six Tests this summer.
Luke
Those results are real, but the article only says the approach hasn't hurt them. It doesn't show it caused them. And his own form in India, three wickets in two Tests, came before this shift.
Mimi
Which is part of why he speaks so plainly about it. The Christchurch Test on Friday is the next one.
El Pulso
- Cummins flew to India in February 2023 knowing he would have to return within weeks, carrying the weight of a mother losing her health.
- Mentally absent during the India series, he watched Australia fall 2-0 behind and then left the tour to be at his mother's side.
- His mother Maria died in May, and the grief turned a private regret into a public change in how he leads.
- Cummins now urges players to pack golf clubs, see shows and guard their diaries, pushing back against the isolation of pandemic-era hotel life.
- The approach appears to be working on the field, with the team winning the World Test Championship and five of six recent Tests, as it heads into its final Test before a break in Christchurch.
Pat Cummins left his mother's bedside-in-waiting for a cricket tour of India, believing with a quiet certainty that time with her was finite, and found his body on the field while his mind stayed at home. Her death in May 2023 turned that absence into a lesson he now carries into the captaincy. Across a sport that asks men to live out of suitcases, he is asking his players to take the hours that remain and make them full. It is a small, human recalibration within a long tradition of athletes learning, too late or just in time, what the calendar is really for.
Pat Cummins boarded the plane to India in February 2023 knowing he would not stay long. His mother, Maria, was losing her health and would soon receive palliative care, and he understood that he would have to come home within a couple of weeks. He stayed for two Tests as Australian captain, carrying the scrutiny of the job, while his side slipped to a 2-0 series defeat. Then he went home to be with her, and did not return to team duty until after she died in May.
Cummins has spoken about that period on The Imperfects, saying that although his parents had sent their best wishes, his mind was never really in India. He called leaving the hardest time of his life. The sense of finite time had been building for a year, with every flight out feeling like a deliberate choice to play rather than be at home.
That loss, alongside the COVID-19 years of athletes confined to hotel rooms, has reshaped how he captains. He wants his players to have the time of their lives on tour: to play hard, but also to golf, see a show in London, and keep space in the diary for living. "It's definitely a lesson learned from mum," he said. "I don't want to waste any time."
He lived that belief last June during the first Test against England, when he and his father caught a Bruce Springsteen concert at Villa Park after a full day in the field. The approach has continued in New Zealand, where it does not seem to have cost Australia on the field. The final Test before an extended break begins Friday in Christchurch.
Pat Cummins flew to India in February 2023 knowing he would not be there long. He has said that when he boarded the plane, he understood he would have to come back within a couple of weeks, and that perhaps only a handful of people knew it. His mother, Maria, was losing her health, and she was soon to receive palliative care.
He stayed for two Tests. As Australian captain on a tour of India, he was under the heavy scrutiny that comes with the job anywhere, and especially there. His side fell 2-0 behind in the series, which kept the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Indian hands. Cummins took three wickets across the two matches. Then he went home to be at Maria's side, and he did not return to team duty until after she died in May.
Cummins described all this on The Imperfects, a podcast in which well-known Australians reflect on difficult periods of their lives that are not always visible to the public. The 30-year-old said he travelled with his parents' best wishes but was never mentally present. Looking back, he said, his mind was not in India for those weeks. It was at home the whole time. He called leaving "the hardest time of my life, easily."
The weight had been building for a year. Each time he flew out in the 12 months leading in, he said, he thought that time was finite, and that he was making a deliberate choice to play somewhere rather than spend it at home.
That experience, together with the COVID-19 years, has shaped how he leads. During the pandemic, travelling athletes were kept in hotel rooms so they could meet their sporting commitments. Cummins says both that period and his mother's death changed his approach to captaincy. His reasoning is simple: if players are going to be away from their families, they should have the time of their lives. They should play really good cricket, but also pack their golf clubs and bring their coffee machine. In London, he said, go and see a show. The team tries to leave as much space in the diary as it can for people to live their lives. "It's definitely a lesson learned from mum," he said. "I don't want to waste any time."
He put that into practice during the first Test against England last June. After fielding all day, he and his father took a cab to Villa Park in Birmingham and watched a two-and-a-half-hour Bruce Springsteen show. Cummins joked that Springsteen was basically the eighth family member, given his father's devotion to the American rocker, and said his dad had a hell of a week.
The approach has been visible again this fortnight in New Zealand, where players have shown as much appetite for the contest as for their off-day golf. It does not appear to have cost Australia anything on the field. The team won the World Test Championship, retained the Ashes, and won the ODI World Cup last year. This summer it won five of six Tests against Pakistan, the West Indies and New Zealand.
Australia's final Test before an extended break begins on Friday in Christchurch against the Black Caps.
Citas Notables
It's definitely a lesson learned from mum. I don't want to waste any time.— Pat Cummins, on The Imperfects podcast
If we're going to be away from our families, let's make sure we're having the time of our lives.— Pat Cummins
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