Pat Cummins says he is even more confident of playing all five Tests this summer as he sets his sights on helping Australia regain the Ashes in Perth from Thursday.
The 24-year-old has been among Australia's most prominent performers so far in the series, a key member of the four-man bowling attack that rattled England in Brisbane and Adelaide, and a handy asset with the bat as well.
Now readying himself at the WACA Ground to play three Tests in a row for the the first time, he does not intend to stop there.
In the lead-up to the home summer, Cummins described the prospect of featuring throughout a five-Test series as "pretty brutal", and Cricket Australia medicos admitted he was entering uncharted territory. But that scenario is all of a sudden looking a lot more realistic.
"At the start of the series, I felt like I was in the best condition I could be. It's just there are so many unknowns with a five-match series," he said.
"I couldn't be happier where I am. My body feels really fresh, fresher than I probably thought it was going to be. I'm probably even more confident. You never know what's going to happen. But I've bowled over 40 overs in a match now [at the Gabba] and come out the other side without any issues. Long may it continue. Hopefully, we don't have to bowl a big 60-over match."
It says a lot for how well Cummins is travelling that the most worrisome issue he's had with his body this summer was having to sit in the dentist's chair for an appointment he had made while he had a couple of rare days off in Sydney over the weekend.
While that experience is never overly enjoyable, what has been a hoot is bowling the house down in his first two Tests at home, and playing a significant role in Australia being on the brink of regaining the Ashes.
There have been few more important wickets taken for Australia lately than when he lit up the stumps of Dawid Malan late on the fourth evening in Adelaide to break the England No.5's increasingly concerning partnership with his captain, Joe Root.
He has also dismissed danger man Root in two of his four innings, and while his return of seven wickets for the series to date doesn't jump off the page, the figure is deceiving. All but one of those was a specialist batsman and Cummins has arguably been the pick of the three Australian fast bowlers in a highly effective unit with a world-leading Nathan Lyon.
"It feels like any of the four of us can take a top-order wicket and any of the four of us can clean up the tail as well," he said. "It's been great it's been shared around and it's a pretty fair reflection of how we've been bowling in partnerships and groups.
"It just feels like a really even foursome. It doesn't feel like we're trying to waste a few overs before a new ball or before lunch or something like that. It just feels like we're going flat out all the time, which is great."
Australia have had additional pacemen Jackson Bird and Chadd Sayers in their squad against England but there has been no discussion about resting any of the top three.
Cummins remembers well the trio of Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle playing every match of the 5-0 whitewash of England four years ago and the ambition now is for Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and himself to go the distance this summer with Lyon.
The spinner's dependability in keeping the pressure on and jagging key wickets has only assisted that bid and selectors also have the longevity of the trio in this series in mind with the inclusion of all-rounder Mitchell Marsh in the squad for Perth.
"I think there is something really special about this group at the moment," Cummins said. "It would be great if we get in a position where we've got I guess the same squad that is firing all the time and we can keep the side together as long as possible.
"That is one of the things you think back to that 5-0 series, how amazing that the whole XI would stick together for the whole five Tests, especially the bowlers. It takes a fair bit to get the same bowlers through a Test from the medical staff to the actual players taking up the higher loads in certain games. It sounds pretty cool, I reckon."
