Cricket might not be well understood in the United States, but baseball fans were raving about Australian Pat Cummins’ spectacular run out of Indian centurion Cheteshwar Pujara in the first Test at Adelaide.
The Aussie fast bowler produced an amazing piece of skill on Thursday to get to the ball with lightning pace, snatch it up with one hand then throw it while in the air diving and twisting.
It shattered the stumps from side-on, with Pujara well short of the crease after rashly attempting a quick single on the second last ball of the day on Thursday.
Cummins’ effort was all the more impressive as it came at the end of a long, hot day in which he had bowled 19 overs.
Former Australian great Adam Gilchrist called it “the best run out ever” and his exploits also impressed Major League Baseball watchers.
“Check out this insane throw from Australian cricket dude and potential future MLB third baseman Pat Cummins,” said a story on the official MLB website.
“Look, I don’t know enough about cricket to tell you what a ‘rapid over’ is or how impressive it is to compile 19 of those bad boys, but I can tell you that this bucket-hatted young Aussie would slot in phenomenally as a big league infielder.”
The writer added: “Someone give this cricket boy a Gold Glove and a contract.”
The throw was compared to this effort in MLB.
Aussie legend Shane Warne joked on air that interest of MLB could cause some trouble for Cricket Australia trying to hold onto the multi-talented star in the future.
Cummins, who was offered just a one-year deal earlier, is currently negotiating a longer term deal with CA.
“That might add a few extra zeros onto the end of his next contract,” Warne reportedly said. “That might make it hard for Cricket Australia.”
Cricket is a niche sport in the US, but is slowly gaining in popularity, mostly among large expat communities, and is seen as a potentially lucrative new market to help grow the game.
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