Australia Test captain Pat Cummins’ mother has passed away after a prolonged battle with breast cancer.
Cricket Australia on Friday confirmed the tragic passing of Pat Cummins’ mother, Maria. Cummins had left the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy after the second Test of the series to tend to his ailing mother, who was in palliative care at the time. The Australian team took the field wearing black armbands following the death of Cummins’ mother. She died of breast cancer. “We are deeply saddened at the passing of Maria Cummins overnight. On behalf of Australian Cricket, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Pat, the Cummins family and their friends. The Australian Men’s team will today wear black armbands as a mark of respect,” a tweet from Cricket Australia read.
Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald convened players before play on Friday morning in Ahmedabad to inform them of Maria Cummins’ passing.
Following Cummins’ absence from the side, Steve Smith led Australia in the remaining two Tests against India.
“To be able to put that to one side while he’s out captaining his country and trying to win Test matches is a pretty incredible effort,” Peter Handscomb said about Cummins last month.