PACE MAN - PAT CUMMINS
The Australian Men’s Cricket Captain has the second most important job after the Prime Minister’s, according to former teach coach and legendary cricketer, Darren Lehmann.
“I’m pretty disappointed about that,” Oz cricket skipper, Pat Cummins tells Australian Life. “I think it should be number one.”
Despite this banter, Cummins is actually humbled by his role. It’s something that he always dreamt about while growing up in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales where he played junior cricket for the Glenbrook-Blaxland Cricket Club. It also inspired him to play first grade for the Penrith District Football Club at the spike-shod foot of the mountains.
“As a child I always thought the Australian cricket captain was awesome,” he says. “So, it’s really crazy to think that it’s my position at the moment and I feel an incredible responsibility to make a difference.”
He wants to improve our lifestyle on many different levels, away from the cricketing spotlight. But more about that later.
Today, Pat Cummins is going into bat for PACE - the range of Rapid Hydration Sports drinks he co-created with the Goodness Group Global, which makes NEXBA beverages, with the aim of giving Australians a real shot at replenishing their bodies with essential nutrients and zero sugar.
Far from merely being a celebrity ambassador, Cummins is an owner of the business and super excited about the benefits of PACE, especially about giving kids an alternative to sugary beverages.
He’s seen the way that sugar has an immediate effect on children just by observing his three-year old son, Albie, before and after a sugar hit.
Cummins has been working on PACE for a “a couple of years” and has been involved in every aspect of its development – from the choice of ingredients to its packaging.
“Right from the start, our intention was to produce a sports drink that had zero sugar, natural ingredients and have a great taste,” he says.
“That’s why I partnered with Nexba, as they have a good, sweet blend with a natural sweetener that’s available in all of their drinks.
“I love that PACE tastes great but it’s also filled with all the good stuff including amino acids, probiotics and natural ingredients but minus the calories. That’s huge for a sports drink,” he insists.
He wants to educate all of us to stop reaching for loaded drinks following an exercise session or even just when we’re thirsty.
“You might be doing a workout to lose weight but then you’re putting the sugary stu into your body which does the opposite,” he points out.
“It basically renders your workout useless.”
PACE, which is a clear drink far removed from the lurid colour of most sports beverages, is available in three flavours – lemon lime, peach and watermelon. It’s sure to be the look and the taste of a long hot Australian summer.
Pat Cummins will of course be in the thick off it but he’s also involved in a few projects that have taken him into the very heart of Australia.
MEET THE MAKER
TROY DOUGLAS
Co-Founder of NEXBA and Goodness Group Global
Shortly after he and his wife, Becky, welcomed Albie into the world, Cummins became a UNICEF Ambassador as he wanted to do something positive for indigenous children in some of Australia’s most remote areas.
He flew to Borroloola, in the Northern Territory where the Indi Kindi Program is supported by UNICEF in partnership with the Moriarty Foundation. Led by local Aboriginal women, Indi Kindi integrates education, health and wellbeing for children in isolated townships.
“Education has always been important in my life,” Cummins explains. “My mum Maria was a teacher and I also had the opportunity of gaining a university education but it’s something that can’t be taken for granted.
“Indi Kindi really focuses on the first 1000 days as building blocks for the rest of the children’s lives, hoping it can make a difference to education and health outcomes,” he says.
Cummins loved his time spent at Barroloola, kicking back on the banks of the McArthur River, surrounded by laughing children.
“Being there really took me outside of the cricket bubble,” he says.”
It is a great way to bring you down to earth pretty quickly I feel really lucky to be in this position where I can be involved.”
Another important cause for him is Cricket for Climate. The catalyst was the heat surge of 2018/2019 in Australia with above average temperatures and bushfires. It transformed that summer’s cricket into an extreme sport and saw even seasoned sportsmen affected by the searing heat.
Cricket for Climate has been described as a player-lead movement, which aims to drive collaboration across the cricket community towards urgent climate solutions. The goal is for net zero emissions across Australian cricket, promoting sustainable operations and nurturing positive solutions.
Cummins is trying to equip grassroots cricket clubs with solar panels and inverters to reduce their carbon output to net zero. As part of the program, he had solar panels installed on the Penrith District Football Club where his career flourished.
“It was a way of decarbonising the club and starting a conversation around climate,” he explains. “But it also put money back into the club that might have been spent on electricity.”
“We’ve rolled out the solar panels to various clubs around Australia and we want to keep expanding. It’s something that I’m really passionate about,” he explains.
He believes that cricket can lead the way on climate solutions and create change that benefits everyone.
“We want the next generations to experience the joys of our planet and to continue to play cricket now and into the future,” he says.
After all, it wouldn’t be the same if cricket was only paid indoors in floodlit, air-conditioned stadiums. It would then become a sanitised version of an iconic sport that is part of our culture. One that goes hand-in-glove during a typical Australian summer.
As well as the many projects, he continues to juggle, Cummins still has plenty of ambitions for his own career. He wants to represent his country as an Olympian when cricket is reintroduced in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. (It was played in the 1900 Summer Olympics but with only two entrants).
“I’d love to be in the thick of that, especially having just witnessed so many amazing achievements from the Australian Olympic team,” he says. “It would be huge to represent Australia and I think I have a chance in 2028 to get into that side.”
He concedes that he will be 35 then, and no doubt, there will be lots of younger cricketers vying for the crucial spot in the Australian Olympic team.
In the meantime, Captain Cummins is also teaching us another valuable lesson, which is around self-care and having the courage to prioritise our own health and wellbeing. He’s currently on an eight week break away from the crease, so he can replenish himself in preparation for a high stakes summer of cricket. It takes real guts not to bow to the pressure of always having to show up.
Cummins and his family will no doubt spend time away at their farm in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales where they have a herd of just nine cows.
“I have very little clue about what I am doing, so the boys take the piss out of me and call me a pretend farmer,” he says. He’ll probably make time to enjoy plenty of PACE to stay hydrated.
Pat Cummins is not only an inspiring cricket captain and owner of PACE, but also an extremely well-rounded man, who deserves every accolade he receives. The Australian Prime Minister should be so lucky.
