The 34-year-old, a diabetic, is in the twilight of his career and at the end of every summer for the past two or three seasons has asked himself if he still has the energy and enthusiasm to continue.
Juggling family, work and cricket commitments had been a strain, but the former New Zealand opener was not ready to call stumps and, most importantly, still had the passion to get him through the summer, he said.
"You have to weigh things up," Cumming said.
"Last year was a long year . . . and I was pretty tired at the end of it.
"There are too many ups and downs in the game of cricket not to be fully committed.
"But you know when you start dreaming and your mind starts wandering off.
"I'd love to win a couple more trophies for Otago.
"I still have a passion for playing and that's the key.
"I'm always going to be passionate about Otago cricket but you've still got to have the passion for playing. And I do."
Cumming, who started out with Canterbury, made his first-class debut in January 1996.
He shifted south to Otago in the summer of 2000-01 in search of more regular playing opportunities and flourished.
In 75 first-class matches for Otago, Cumming has scored 5237 runs at an average of 43.28.
But the past two years, in particular, have been extremely productive.
He has scored 1708 runs at an average of 63.25, including eight hundreds.
That rich vein of form has seen him equal Bert Sutcliffe's record haul of 17 centuries for the association.
And if he has a good summer he could overhaul Sutcliffe's tally of 6028 runs and claim top spot on the Otago run-scoring list.
It would be a nice way to finish his career, but Cumming said it was not a factor in his decision to return.
"If you turn up just wanting to score runs and get a record, I think you're going to take a fall. [Statistics] have never been something that has driven me," he said.
"I know I'm close to him [Sutcliffe] on the all-time runs list but it would require a pretty special or good year.
"But, as I say, I'd be happy to have a good year and win trophies with Otago."
Cumming's on-again, off-again international career, in his mind, drew to a close in December last year when he was overlooked for the national side in favour of a younger player "with more of a future".
"I haven't given up hope but I think I had my hopes squashed from what I was told last season.
"And I haven't got any younger."
Having experienced the revolving door at the top of the Black Caps' order, Cumming hopes New Zealand cricket will create the environment for Otago team-mate Brendon McCullum to succeed.
Late last month, McCullum announced his decision to give up the gloves at test level and concentrate on cementing a spot in the top order.
Cumming believes McCullum has the skills to make the transition from all-rounder to specialist batsman.
"If you have a look at the attributes Brendon has as a batsman, they are attributes that all the great players in the world have.
"So let's get in behind him and support him because if he does it well, we will, for the first time in 20 years, have a world-class player in our top three who can win us tests."
