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By Paul Martin
Mark Nicholas hailed Pat Cummins as ‘cricket’s foremost representative’ on the world stage ahead of the Australia captain’s appearance at an innovative summit at Lord’s.
World Cricket Connects, which brings together influential figures from across all aspects of cricket, was the brainchild of MCC chair Nicholas and is expanding to a two-day event in 2025 after a successful start last year.
Cummins is to be interviewed on day two, June 8, as part of a session entitled ‘The Commercial Opportunity of Sustainability’, which also features a presentation from the Cricket for Climate group.
That organisation was co-founded by the seamer, who regularly uses his platform to voice concerns surrounding environmental issues in cricket, and Nicholas believes his impact is only growing.
“Pat has got enormous respect both on and off the field from everybody,” he said.
“There is nobody in the game that would say a bad word about him or doubt him. There is nothing about him that looks false, he is the real deal. So, when he speaks, it is interesting.
“His heart is in climate control, without a doubt. He has always been environmentally aware, he is not talking from a sudden bout of care, this has always been in him.
“He is probably, right now, cricket’s foremost representative. Now that Virat Kohli has stood down (from Test cricket), Pat Cummins has moved into that spot alongside Ben Stokes.
“If you were asking who the superstars are who command global respect, in a way that people listen to what they say, applaud their performance and they still stay top of the rankings, they are the three.”
Themes including the state of the game, franchise cricket, women’s cricket and ‘is cricket cool?’ will be up for discussion at Lord’s, with panellists from a range of backgrounds invited to take part.
Nicholas, who has been a regular contributor to Channel 9 over the years, is particularly intrigued to hear from Australian representatives regarding franchise cricket amid what he sees as a drop-off in the impact of the Big Bash.
“The Big Bash has gone quiet,” he said. “It sure came in with a big bash, it was fantastic.
“But to me, from afar – and I haven’t been in Australia full-time for seven years now – it needs to look at itself internally. Quite a few of the important Australians are going to be here, not least the new CEO (Todd Greenberg), so it will be interesting to see where they are with that.”
A World Cricket Connects Advisory board, chaired by Kumar Sangakkara and featuring former Australia captain Mel Jones, has been established since the inaugural forum last year.
Jones has had a significant impact in helping Afghanistan’s displaced women’s team find opportunities to play in Australia while the MCC founded the Global Refugee Cricket Fund earlier this year.
Its initial focus is supporting the Pitch Our Future campaign – an Australian-led programme that empowers and supports players from the former Afghanistan Women’s Cricket Team – after the topic was raised at World Cricket Connects.
“People wanted action, they were horrified by what had happened to Afghanistan’s women’s cricketers,” Nicholas said.
“Once it became obvious there was a way to support it through our foundation, we were very quick to do so.
“One of MCC’s great strengths is that we give back to cricket to an extraordinary level, a level that cuts our surplus every year in half.
“I feel we should always try and help initiatives like that, that’s exactly where MCC can fit. I really feel that was in our wheelhouse.”
World Cricket Connects is an initiative dedicated to bringing together cricket stakeholders from around the world to discuss and shape the future of the sport. Through events, discussions, and collaborations, World Cricket Connects aims to foster innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability in cricket.
