Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon send cricket stunning reminder

Nathan Lyon wants to play forever, or at least drain as much juice from the lemon as he possibly can, and has his sizzle back.

Pat Cummins feels as fit as he ever has and bowled with zip. Josh Hazlewood looks as strong as an ox and was breathing fire in Durban. And Mitch Starc keeps doing what Mitch Starc does when fronting up each Test and sending down scorchers.

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The magnificence of Matthew Renshaw’s stellar deeds in Durban aside, Australia’s fabulous four delivered another reminder of just how phenomenal they are at Kingsmead Stadium.

The quartet took 17 of the 20 South African wickets when surpassing 600 dismissals as a combination in Test matches and now have a 200-odd lead on the next best foursome.

Jason Gillespie, who is in South Africa leading a tour group and also broadcasting for the ABC, said it was extraordinary to consider there was “daylight to the next quartet”.

“Each of these players will go down as a legend of Australian cricket,” he said.

The Durban drubbing proved a celebration of both their brilliance and also their resilience given the extent of the troubles most experienced last summer.

While Lyon is determined to extract every last drop of what he has left in himself, there was an acknowledgment from Cummins afterwards that nothing lasts forever and the words and deeds of all four demonstrate the superstars are aware of their bowling mortality.

“We haven’t really had the consistency of the last probably two or three years like we did … in 2020, the teens, whatever it was four or five years ago,” Cummins said.

“It’s not going to happen forever, (so we) kind of relish it while it’s happening.”

Flick back to the Ashes and while Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett and Michael Neser delivered, questions were being asked as to whether the record-breaking quartet would ever get the full band back together again given their assorted ailments.

Hazlewood, who posted the best figures of a remarkable career when finishing with 6-49 in the first Test in Durban, missed the entire Test summer with two different injury issues.

Cummins was sidelined with stress hot spots in his back a year ago and returned to play just one solitary Test, the Ashes-clinching triumph in Adelaide, before being warehoused.

Lyon, meanwhile, severely tore his hamstring in the same Test after twice being overlooked in the four previous Tests the Aussies played due to day-night Tests.

With home pitches in Australia increasingly presenting as green mambas in recent summers, debate flared as to the merits of even playing a spinner on home soil, with a specialist featuring only twice in the Ashes in Perth and Adelaide.

But with a legacy-defining odyssey underway with this series and subsequent clashes with New Zealand and India leading into the Ashes and potentially the World Test Championship decider set to mark where this side compares to other great generations, the bowling band of brothers has worked hard to start the journey in peak health. Touch wood, it continues.

Lyon is off the booze and Starc did not have a beer at all last summer until after the Ashes had finished.

In Durban on Tuesday, the team belted out the “Underneath the Southern Cross” anthem a little after 4pm, which is about three hours after the triumph was secured, before heading their separate ways to either relax or celebrate in a more traditional fashion.

As the press pack was heading off for dinner about 8pm, all four members of the bowling attack were trickling back into the team hotel, with the only vice to be seen an ice cream.

There are potentially 18 Tests to come and minimal breaks in the South Africa series and while the Aussies won well in Durban, they spent a long time in the field in the heat and humidity, where Lyon’s ability to hold down an end and the pleasing emergence of Renshaw as a prospective part-timer ensured the three quicks could rotate regularly.

A key to their longevity is their commitment to the rigours associated with strength and conditioning, with all mindful that at different stages in their 30s, more adherence is needed to recovery.

Starc built a specialised gym at home to assist with this and all the bowlers have credited Cricket Australia’s physical performance lead Ross Herridge and head physio Nick Jones with helping them return to the fray this summer fit and firing.

“It is really satisfying,” Cummins, who bowled with venom in the Test, said.

“I mean, so much of the last year, well, since the Ashes, really, has been about ‘How are we going to get ourselves to this position in as good a spot as we can be?’

“(It is) amazing work by all our support staff. In the winter we spent a lot of time in Brisbane ahead of the Bangladesh series and there is buy-in from all the bowlers to miss the odd series or games here or there to get to this position. That’s why Joshy on Day Five was still charging in and bowling as fast as I’ve seen you for a while. (He is) super skilful.

“So I feel like we’re really well placed. It might not always be this case, but I couldn’t be happier with how the preps have gone and how well placed everyone is.”

But the praise goes both ways with Herridge citing the example set by Starc as a reason why the quartet are continuing to excel at an age where most bowlers are resting their backs.

“He hardly touched a drop of alcohol from the start of the Ashes to the end of the Ashes, because he knew to get through five Tests he had to make sure he was doing all the right things,” Herridge told ESPN Cricinfo in August.

“He got different flights back home to get back into his own bed to make sure he was getting the right sleep.

“He’s put a sauna in his house. He uses infrared. He does a lot of the smaller things. He’s been speaking to the dietitian around the one-percenters for his nutrition.”

Former Australian fast bowler and past selector Merv Hughes said it is important for the quartet to adhere to what the fitness gurus are advising, noting there is nothing wrong with missing an occasional game to freshen the mind as much as the body.

“The thing about it is that when fast bowlers get rested these days, (the talk is about) ‘Oh, what do they need a rest for? They should be up for it’,” he told foxsports.com.au

“Well, physically they are, but mentally you have got to keep players fresh. And with the gruelling schedule that they have, not only does it take a physical toll, (it also) takes a mental toll. So if you’re physically tired and mentally fresh, you can get through. If you’re mentally tired, (it) doesn’t matter how well you are physically, you’re knackered.

“That’s a big thing that these strength and conditioning guys do, and the guys within the team, they understand the players really well. They travel with them all the time. If they’re showing any signs of fatigue, that’s when they rest them, re-coup them, and keep them back at their very best.

“And I just found when I was selecting, the two blokes that were my best friends were the strength and conditioning coach and the physiotherapist, because they would tell you when bowlers were going to break down, so you have to listen to them.”

There is another factor at play explaining the group’s desire and longevity according to Australian coach Andrew McDonald.

Their individual and collective brilliance aside, they are mates who enjoy each other’s company and love playing alongside each other, be it at the ground or in the nets or on some of the world’s best golf courses.

Just as the club environment can entice an ageing warhorse to pull the spikes back on, the same is true in international cricket, notwithstanding the vast riches on offer as well to keep performing and continue dotting the Is and crossing the Ts.

“Oh, they are an incredible group that is highly motivated at this point in time,” McDonald said after the Durban triumph.

“And it’s hard not to be motivated when you’ve got South Africa away, New Zealand at home, India away and, fingers crossed, the WTC (final) into an Ashes, so there’s a bit on the horizon that keeps these players motivated.

“But also, they enjoy playing together. That sort of internal drive, the right people in that group, the enjoyment that they create as we travel around the world together, I think that keeps this group tightly together. They will continue to play with each other and any time you get an opportunity to play for Australia, it is something you are striving to do.

“You can apply it to the club cricket landscape as well, where people play a little bit longer because they enjoy that change room and they have people down the other end that they bat with and bowl with.

“We are a very good cricket team, but it is no different to other good cricket teams around the world, no matter what level you are at, but these guys are at the highest level.”