Pat Cummins reveals future plans ahead of WTC final: 'Want to play until 35'

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Australia captain Pat Cummins has revealed that he wishes to continue playing until 35 years of age, adding that keeping life outside cricket in balance was also important for him.

The 30-year-old, who is gearing up for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India from June at The Oval in London, also opened up on flying back home midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India to spend time with his mother who had entered palliative care before passing away in March.

"Cricket's basically 12 months of the year; there's always a cricket game going on somewhere, and I played non-stop for a year or two," Cummins said while speaking with former England footballer Rio Ferdinand on 'WeAre8’s Get Real with Rio program'.

"This is about four or five years ago, (when) I kind of just came back from injuries. And I was just spent, like burnout and I just remember thinking 'geez I'm 25 here but I want to do this until I'm 35' I've got to find a way to balance all these different things."

The express pacer, who skipped IPL 2023 workload management, said he was grateful for being alongside his mother in her last few days. He said his stay at home away from cricket has helped him contemplate and have a better perspective about his life.

"It's still pretty raw at the moment but the last few months been luckily enough to spend loads of time with mum," he said.

"But (also) us as kids, and (with) dad, and just sharing all those memories together.

"I think it hits home the kind of person you want to be, the kind of father you want to be. So from that side, it's been quite good.

"Lots of memories. But in terms of the grief I guess we'll keep working through that."

Cummins will depart from Australia for the WTC final in England. Australia will then face England in the Ashes 2023 which kicks off from June 16.