Friends and teammates call him “Ball Pest”.
And Cummings says he is willing to live up to his nickname by pestering opposing players. He did so against Cuba at the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Sunday, closing down their midfielders and not allowing them to thread through balls at a time when T&T strove to preserve their lead.
Cummings, hails from Petit Valley, and has been one of the outstanding players of the 2014-2015 local Pro League season. Playing on a North East Stars team minus a true attacker since the departure of Trevin Caesar for the USA, Cummings has often been pushed forward with great success. He is also an astute dead-ball specialist.
Cummings has always been talented, but said to be undisciplined, resulting in him bouncing around the Pro League between several teams, including W Connection and San Juan Jabloteh, before finally getting serious under the guidance of disciplinarian Angus Eve at North East Stars. He has also been on a couple of youth national teams and had a previous call-up to the seniors as well.
His newly found maturity has landed Cummings a spot on the senior national team and head coach Stephen Hart showed confidence in him with a second half run against Cuba.
“Ah had a nice lil (Pro League) season and a get call back to the national team. Is a good experience coming back into the team. Ah mean, ah work hard for it, ah thankful for it,” Cummings said. “It’s a good experience being with Kenwyne Jones, being with Boucard, being with Hyland, because ah grow up playing together with some of them.”