James Pattinson is the solution to Australia’s cricketing woes.
At 28 years of age, and having not played an officially listed game (domestic/international) in over 15 months, Pattinson is the most forgotten player in Australian cricket.
When he burst onto the scene as a bustling fast bowler capable of producing what only the elite could, the Victorian was viewed as one of Australia’s future high-class pacemen.
In 2018, and with very little cricket under his belt, it’s easy to believe that his potential to become a strong part of the Australian Test XI will not be realised.
Making his comeback in the Victorian under 23s, however, we saw a performance that wasn’t dissimilar to his production in Premier Cricket and for Victoria back in 2016-17.
Although he was facing an attack consisting of players pushing for domestic selection, Pattinson scored 108 in the first innings, including 17 boundaries.
There was a moment in time where Pattinson’s batting went from being solid for a bowler to becoming worthy of genuine all-rounder status.
That aforementioned 2016-17 season saw him score 80 in the Sheffield Shield final.
For Dandenong in Premier Cricket, he scored 560 runs in ten innings at an average of 62, including three 50s and two centuries.
It’s been an all-too-familiar occurrence for Pattinson in recent years, where he has had to play in a variety of teams as a batsman while managing his bowling.
While his bowling, at its best, can be unstoppable, it is clearly an unsustainable crutch for his game to lean on.
Despite there still being injury concerns constantly around Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, these three have a stranglehold on the fast bowling spots in the national team.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
It’s Australia’s batting that has seen the team sink to fifth in the ICC rankings, and playing some of the worst cricket seen for a while.
There aren’t enough runs being scored to make the team competitive, and the current mix of batsmen just doesn’t click.
Of course, it’s easy to disregard performances in the UAE series due to the conditions, but ultimately, Australia were destroyed by the type of bowler that can play well in any country, in any conditions.
Aaron Finch, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne were part of the initial shakeup and each had their strong moments.
Yet, with the Marsh brothers underperforming and under pressure, it’s hard to see who Australia can rely upon. It shouldn’t come down to the number seven batsman who ultimately, won’t be there in 18 months.
This is where Pattinson is the left-field solution.
The 28-year-old has continued to develop his batting technique to a point where he can adapt to any situation.
In the recent match against South Australia’s under 23s, Pattinson looked as good as any Australian batsman has looked in recent times, save for Will Pucovski.
The issue with cricket, whether it be on the international stage, domestically or even locally, is that players are too often pigeonholed.
There is not enough capitalisation on reality – the mindset of “once a bowler, always a bowler” or “flash-in-the-pan form” should be long gone.
James Pattinson should be batting at six for Australia by the time the Ashes come around.
For someone that hasn’t played for Victoria in well over a year, it could be deemed a silly idea.
Sports science and physios will tell us that Pattinson needs to be managed to beyond belief just to get through a season unscathed – likely resulting in him playing half the fixtured games.
But Pattinson, who has really been a batsman for a long while now, needs to be treated as such.
There will be a point in time where Pattinson can start to bowl ten overs a game and get through spells of medium-fast bowling, but that isn’t what Victoria or Australia needs right now.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Despite coming off a dominant start to the Sheffield Shield, Victoria should be bringing in Pattinson before the BBL break to re-introduce him to state cricket.
He is definitely talented enough to play as a batsman in the BBL – few who saw his 137 against Ringwood in a 20/20 at the backend of 2016 would disagree.
Getting consistency and confidence into Pattinson is just as important as managing his workload.
With his talent and natural ability, the jump from Premier Cricket to domestic competitions isn’t much.
The jump to international level, if timed correctly, can be simple as well.
We have always seen James Pattinson as the injury-prone fast bowler who could’ve been anything if not for his body.
It’s about time we start seeing James Pattinson as a run-scorer who could be a difference-maker for Australia in the future.
The national team has been crying out for something different for a long time, something that will make it difficult to plan against.
A powerful, yet smart left-handed batsman hasn’t been seen since Adam Gilchrist.
It could be time to throw all the eggs in the James Pattinson kitbag, and let his batting do the talking.
Gus O
Guest
And the search for a genuine all rounder continues. The role in test cricket with the ball is to hold up an end, keep the run rate low to maintain dot ball pressure, give the strike bowlers a rest to manage their workload (particularly when the opposition is batting long and bowling conditions are tough), and hopefully to pick up a couple of wickets a match. For those occasions where the bowling is really needed - does Patto’s body have the required resilience and reliability? We wont know until he is given a go. What we do know is, as much as we might want him to be the guy, and as pleased as we might be when he does well, Mitch Marsh simply has not shown the necessary consistency with the bat. The current top order batting is not strong enough to carry a number 6 who is so unreliable with the bat. I hope Mitch proves every critic wrong, frequently... and really soon. But any player can only be given so many opportunities before the hard call needs to be made.
keith hurst
Roar Pro
Dem I am sure that a fit Pattinson (will this ever happen?) would certainly help the Australian tail, but until a batsman has scored a number of first class hundreds he shouldn't be considered as a Test batsman. The headline is certainly misleading and it you are drawing a long bow to crown him as the solution to our woes. We need to develop first class batsmen with solid technique and defense to be able to win Test matches throughout the world. Keith Hurst - sports fanatic
tauranga boy
Guest
Unfortunately this shows the poor calibre of candidates for Australia's batting line-up. There never, in my memory, been an easier time to play for Australia .. yet NO ONE is making enough consistent runs to demand to be picked. There used to be oodles of very good batsmen in the background knocking at the selectors' door. Are the Sheffield Shield pitches more difficult these days? Are the bowlers better now? (Don't seem to be!) It's strange.
Andre Leslie
Roar Guru
Interesting viewpoint... I'm going to keep an eye out for his batting from now on. Have rarely see him at the crease, I must admit.
JohnB
Roar Rookie
Plus Michael Neser is likely to be able to bowl 2 matches in a row. Pattinson is unfortunately one of the outstanding "if only" players of recent years. Terrific at his best - but all too rarely at his best. Make a case as a batsman and if he can bowl a limited number of quality overs as well, without busting himself, great. But he's yet to make any sort of case that he can do that. And noting the pontiff's comment above, Geoff Dymock (maybe marginally better than Dave Gilbert with the bat, but a close run thing) scored a Shield hundred.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Excellent piece. Best laugh I've had for ages!
Baggy_Green
Roar Pro
What an unbelievable article !!!! The guy has not played continous serious cricket for a while now and you have put him in the mid order for Australia lol
Ozibatla
Guest
Well if James Pattinson is selected to bat 6 for Aus in next years ashes then all first class batsmen in Australia should hang their heads in shame. Not knocking Pattinson but surely theres a better option than someone who averages in the 20s throughout his first class career. Also do you recon he will know how to technically combat messrs Anderson and Broad on a green seamer???
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
I am not sure using Jeff Hammond as an example is wise. His reinvention as a shield batsman (your words, not mine) resulted in a first class batting average of 16.46 from 87 innings and 31 of those were not outs. He was never a batsman of any note. In fact, he only ever passed 50 once making his highest score of 53. Thankfully Pattinson has more batting credibility than Hammond ever did, but it is still a long stretch. On the other hand, it can't hurt to hope...
Adam Daunt
Roar Guru
If we used similar logic, Michael Neser should be in line to bat 6 for Australia. Has a first-class top score of 77, averaging 23 and List-A hundred. It shouldn't happen but that seems to be the thing we're going for here. The issue seems to be with picking players averaging mid-30's in shield cricket, who aren't in amazing form and watching them look out of place at the higher level.
Dem Panopoulos
Expert
I agree, my thoughts are it won’t take long if the trigger is pulled now. He has fixed his game up to be a genuine batting option, I’m eager to see it fast tracked as opposed to waiting a year before he plays FC cricket again.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
Dave Gilbert got a FC 100. This is a very long shot.
Paul
Roar Guru
Dem, there was a guy named Jeff Hammond who played a few Tests for Australia as a fast bowler. Went on the '73 tour of the West Indies but suffered stress fractures to his back and ended up re-inventing himself as a Shield batsman for South Australia. It's certainly possible for Pattinson but he has to go through the same process as every other batsman; make plenty of runs at Club level, then graduate to Shield level, etc.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
James Pattinson could be a good alternative to Mitchell Marsh. But Australia's woe is batting, CA should give opportunity to Will Pucovski, the teen-age sensation against India. Recently India have also debuted 19 year-old prodigy Prithvi Shaw against West Indies with success.
Matt H
Roar Guru
I hear what you are saying and you are right, the first step is for Victoria to give him some time as a number six and then go from there. Realistically the time to do this is the BBL, simply because there are more spots available. then we see what happens from there.
Dem Panopoulos
Expert
There is still hope for Pattinson! Have a genuine belief that he just needs a good run with injuries to once again feature, and it’s more than likely coming from his batting side. Desperately hope he can realise some of that potential.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Where's his bowling at? He is certainly an option for no.7. If we had a keeper who was a legit no.6 test batsman (and we don't), he could bat 7, Cummins 8, Starc 9, followed by Lyon and Hazlewood. And he's useful for when you want to play 2 spinners, giving us a serious 3rd seamer, plus an even longer batting lineup with Agar replacing one of the quicks. But he needs to be able to bowl. No way he's a test batsman, not yet anyway. Shame about the injuries - he's a helluva cricketer.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
He certainly looks very solid at the crease - his last test was Feb 2016 - 32 months ago - and ironically with only 42 as a highest score his average is 27.66 (7not outs out of 19). In FC overall, ave of 25.71 with 5 50s and top of 89*. Not yet the makings of a top 6 test batter. However - I recall Imran Khan struggling to bowl in latter years and focusing more on his batting. I remember well back in 2011 at the MCG v India, from 4-27, a 115 stand from Ponting and Hussey, then the wickets tumbled again, and in at #10 was Pattinson who batted so much more confidently and authoritatively than most before him, and 37* that vital extra buffer and following up with 4-53 he bowled Australia home (and got MotM). Ah....what could've been...
JamesH
Roar Guru
Cummins and Starc would be batting in those positions regardless of who was at 6, Dutski. Surely our number 6 should be someone who is fit and scoring runs?
JamesH
Roar Guru
Well said, Paul. Pattinson might have the natural talent but he hasn't been playing any domestic cricket. Throw in the fact that he averages 28 in tests (19 innings) and 26 in First Class cricket (60 innings) and the notion that he should be parachuted in as some kind of saviour to bat 6 is absurd. The last thing we need is to select more batsmen who haven't got done the hard yards in the Shield. It would be an insult to the handful of guys who have.