Australian Cricket's newest star - A tale of two Pattinsons

I’m sure everyone has slightly bizarre hobbies or habits that bemuse their peers. Here’s mine: I like to stay up late into the night watching international cricket matches played by teams that I do not support…I have been told that this is not a widespread habit.

Nevertheless, there I was, during the week, watching the first test between Australia and New Zealand in the early hours of the morning and this brought to my attention the emergence of what could be a genuine new talent on the international cricket scene.

21 year-old James Pattinson made a great impression in his first test match for Australia. This is a player who can bowl with pace and bounce and despite his inexperience, he was a thorn in the side of the Kiwis. He has played only eight first class games in his career yet showed few signs of nerves in his first appearance on the biggest stage.

His spell in New Zealand aptly demonstrated his potential to become a top class international fast bowler. A devastating spell saw a return of 5/27 including a treble wicket maiden which obliterated the Kiwi top order and fired the Aussies towards victory. As impressive as Pattinson’s bowling was however, I was left with a feeling of annoyance and frustration. Now as an Englishman, I like to hate the Australian cricket team as much as anyone, but this was something different. It was a piece of commentary during Pattinson’s spell that reminded the viewers that he was in fact the brother of Darren Pattinson.

Even the most hard-core cricket fans among you may have forgotten Darren Pattinson and I don’t blame you. In July 2008, Ryan Sidebottom injured himself the day before the 2nd Test match against South Africa. What followed was the bizarre selection of a Nottinghamshire seam bowler who one year earlier was working as a roofer. So obscure was the selectors’ decision that poor Darren had to go round the dressing room introducing himself to his England teammates, many of whom had no idea who he was.

It is probably fair to say the selection has not been a long-term success. In the match, across two innings, Pattinson took only two wickets, one of which was an appalling LBW decision, dropped two catches and has never been picked for England again.

There was considerable controversy over the pick, Ian Botham calling it ‘the most illogical, pathetic and diabolical piece of selecting I've seen. The selectors have embarrassed English cricket.’ It didn’t help that not only did Pattinson seem out of his depth, he was quite clearly Australian.

Now I’m not going to wade too deeply into the on-going controversial debate about the eligibility of international cricketers. My current attitude, in the wake of the brilliance of Jonathan Trott’s recent performances, is if they are good enough, they are English enough. So Trott and Pietersen are English (at the moment). Jade Dernbach is definitely South African. Darren Pattinson, by my logic, was Australian. Had his brother been picked instead, I would probably have had no trouble in regarding him as English.

So as much as I was excited to see a new young talent in the form of James Pattinson blasting onto the international scene, my excitement was mixed with annoyance in the knowledge that he could well be a thorn in our side over the next decade of Ashes series. He is a bowler of genuine talent, far greater potential than anyone the Aussies have had perhaps since a young Brett Lee burst onto the scene back in 1999. He looks a far better prospect than the likes of Peter Siddle or Ryan Harris and it is not hard to imagine him being far more consistent than the enigma that is Mitchell Johnson. Even in just a single game, Pattinson has taken full advantage of the injuries in the Aussie bowling line-up and could find himself with a long run in the team. It is slightly unfortunate that in our decision to pick an Australian named Pattinson for the England side, it looks like we picked the wrong one.

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