Faculty Award of Excellence: Business
Pat Cummins is the men’s Australian Cricket Captain, and one of the best fast bowlers in cricket today. Cummins’ outstanding on field performance and leadership abilities stem from years of hard work, dedication, and innovation, however his lesser known philanthropic and business side was first realised when he was forced to take a break from sport.
The youngest player ever to earn a central contract with Cricket Australia at 18 years old, Cummins was a gifted sporting star on the rise. But it wasn’t long after he burst onto the international cricket scene in 2011, that a stress fracture in his back kept him off the field for several years. He used that time to its full potential, commencing a Bachelor of Business at UTS.
This was made possible with an Australian Cricket Association (ACA) education grant, and for Cummins, it took the pressure off his day-to-day cricket performance, because he was building his skills and interests in case cricket didn’t work out. The more Cummins studied, the more certain he became that he wanted to focus on economics and marketing. Although it’s fair to say, cricket did work out.
Back on the field by the age of 23, Cummins quickly rose to be the world's No.1 ranked bowler in Test cricket and was part of the side that won Australia's first ever men's T20 World Cup in 2021. Later that year he became Australia’s 47th Test captain at only 27 years old.
A successful elite sporting career hasn’t diminished Cummins’ interest in education and business, and he’s becoming as influential off the field as he is on it. He is now a Director on the Board at ACA, and an ambassador for both the Mito Foundation and UNICEF.
And his latest venture is bringing his passions of cricket and climate change together, as the Founder of Cricket for Climate. Cummins has started a collective movement with the sole purpose to lead and support initiatives to drive net-zero emissions in cricket by 2035 and 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. By using his influence and experience to make a positive impact, he’s championing climate change in the hope that we can make the changes needed now to save our planet, and summers of cricket to come.