Birthday special: James Pattinson – The talented Australian pacer with rare opportunities

He had pace. He could swing the ball both ways. And, he could also extract extra bounce off the deck as well. James Pattinson had all the ingredients to become a great bowler for the Australian side. But then, in spite of making his international debut a decade ago for Australia, he has managed to play just 21 Tests, 15 ODIs and 4 T20Is for the kangaroos.

And, one of the main reasons why Pattinson could never procure a permanent spot in the Australian side is due to injury. The stress fracture to his back plagued Pattinson for a large part of his career. And, he underwent surgery to his back as well, in the year 2017. Apart from a back injury, Pattinson also suffered a shin injury in the year 2016, and as a result, he could feature in just 2 Test matches in the whole year for the Australian side.

Career highlights

But then, even though Pattinson had a start-stop career, he also had his moments of triumph. The 5/27 that he scalped against New Zealand at Brisbane will forever be a shining light of his career. In New Zealand’s second innings, Pattinson gobbled up the Kiwi batting line-up and helped the Australian side to post a comfortable 9 wicket victory.

He also picked up a five-wicket haul against the West Indies side in the year 2015. The right-arm pacer scalped 5 wickets, giving away only 27 runs to allow the kangaroos to thrash the West Indies by an innings and 212 runs.

The Australian pacer has also featured in IPL cricket as well. Pattinson has played 10 matches in the IPL and has scalped 11 wickets. However, in spite of the talent, his career never took off, and even after spending close to a decade at the international level, Pattinson has only taken 100 international wickets in all the 3 formats put together.

However, his journey is not over yet, and Pattinson still has some cricket left in him. As the Australian cricketer turns 31 today, let us wish him a very happy birthday.