Image courtesy of: The Metro
Pattinson will be looking to pull off a James Anderson
Australia pace bowler James Pattinson, who was recently diagnosed with a stress fracture of the lower back and ruled out for the remainder of the Ashes series, has announced that the seriousness and timing of his injury is “far from ideal”.
With Australia currently trailing 2-0 to England, they will need to win the three remaining Tests to bring the coveted urn back home, but with Pattinson out of the picture, their mission has just become a little harder.
Many cricket pundits and former players thought that some of the older, more experienced bowlers like Ryan Harris or Peter Siddle would be most likely to succumb to a serious injury, but not the 23-year-old Pattinson, who recently recovered from a rib injury he sustained during Australia’s home series against South Africa in December last year.
Pattinson started to feel his back tighten up after the second day of the second Test at Lord’s and by the time the match had concluded, he was complaining of “hip and back soreness”.
As a result of his symptoms, Pattinson was sent for a scan, which revealed the early stages of a stress fracture.
“When you go out doing what you do it’s hard on the body and in an ideal world you’d like a bit more rest than that. It’s far from ideal,” Pattinson said. “You go out there and put your body on the line and you’re playing for your country … once I get a bit more mature, I’ve said it a thousand times before, but I’m still hoping one day my body is going to mature and I’ll be able to do that back-up not just for two Tests but five.
“It could have been worse, but it’s pretty shattering something you’ve worked so hard for is taken away. It’s a hard road … it’s not as bad as what it was before in the past when I’ve had six to twelve months out of the game, which is pretty hard and a few lonely days in the MCG gym getting back towards playing. So I’ll go through that again but I’m in a positive frame of mind that one day it’ll get better and hopefully it does, so fingers crossed.”
However, Pattinson can draw inspiration from England’s pace spearhead James Anderson, who was plagued with injury after injury during his younger days, but managed to rise from the ashes and become one of the best pace bowlers in cricket today.
“That has been thrown up overnight, in conversations about Jimmy Anderson, whose career started with a lot of injuries,” Pattinson said. “There are a dozen other bowlers in the same position. You live in hope that one day it will go away. I am only 23. I am pretty happy with what I have achieved in the game so far but I would like to have fewer setbacks. I am a pretty strong person and I think I can bounce back strong and come back bigger better and stronger than I did last time.”
With Pattinson also having been heavily criticised for trying to bowl every single one of his deliveries as fast as possible, the 23-year-old noted that he would reconsider changing his tactics and taking a page out of Anderson and South Africa pace bowler Dale Steyn’s book, whereby he would learn to bowl a range of deliveries at different speeds, which he could use to surprise the opposing batsmen.
“In games you can sum up when it is swinging,” he added. “It is not in my personal makeup to go out and not give 100 percent. I like bowling fast.
“Dale Steyn sometimes bowls within himself and picks the right time to go hard. I am not at that stage yet. I have to go 100 percent to make sure I am in the team and performing for my country. When I get older there will be times I can do that.
“At training I go pretty hard too. I can look at that. Personally, the only way is to give everything you got. I am very proud of representing Australia and it is something I love doing. It is disappointing to work your arse off and have it taken away.”