Bowlers Will Start Picking Particular Formats in Coming Days: James Pattinson

Australian pacer James Pattinson, on Saturday (June 22) revealed it has become difficult for a fast bowler to manage the workload. He went on to opine that the bowlers would be contemplating the idea of sticking to specific formats in the coming days.

Pattinson himself has been suffering a lot due to consistent injuries. Despite being one of the most sought-after bowlers in Australia, his career is yet to take full flight.

The speedster Pattinson has once again resumed bowling in the nets after surgery last November to fix yet another stress fracture in vertebrae.

The 28-year old had impressed with Victoria in the Sheffield Shield and then Nottinghamshire in the County Championship, last year. He picked up 32 scalps at just 12.06 for Nottinghamshire.

However, Pattinson’s dream of playing the Ashes was shattered because of another injury.

In his short career, he has already spent over months on the sidelines with distinct injuries. He last played competitive cricket in July last year and is once again gearing up to make a return on the field.

And with persistent injuries to the pacer, not a new phenomenon these days, he feels the day is not far when the bowlers will consider sticking a solitary format.

Pattinson capsulized the point by observing England use their veteran pace duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad exclusively for Test matches. And the likes of Liam Plunkett, David Willey, and Co. mainly taking part in limited-overs.

“I think we’ll see the game move now where you’re going to have (bowlers picking formats),” Cricket Australia quoted Pattinson as saying.

 

“England do it well with their bowlers. They’ve got specialist one-day players, and you see Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson just playing Test cricket. And that seems to do quite well for them. I think with the amount of cricket you’ve got now, with all three formats… you’ll probably see bowlers will probably stick to the one format, or not as much one-day stuff,” he added.

James Pattinson further said he was hopeful of making a comeback from a serious back injury.

“I never doubt my ability in getting back there – obviously it’s just the history with injuries. That’s the thing, whether I can get back. It’s pretty hard, Test cricket bowling. Whether my body allows me, I will be doing everything I possibly can to get back there,” he remarked.

“I think I pretty much got it right last time. I probably just bowled for a bit too long,” he added.