Patto won’t be holding back

Quick going to stay ‘close to line’ in Test recall

JAMES Pattinson knows there’s a line he can’t cross but it’s a line the Test fast bowler is happy to keep pushing ahead of a Boxing Day return.

A one-match suspension for an alleged homophobic slur in a Sheffield Shield game cost the fiery Victorian a start in the opening Test of the summer against Pakistan.

But an injury to Josh Hazlewood has opened the door for Pattinson to play his third Boxing Day Test, eight years after his first and four years since he last played for his country at the MCG.

Pattinson’s “fear factor” has been praised by his teammates and the 29-year-old, while acknowledging his recent mistake, said he wouldn’t be holding back against the Kiwis.

“I just play cricket the way I know how to. If that’s pushing the line, it’s pushing the line,” he said yesterday.

“When you go through setbacks like that, and getting suspended, you have to think about that a little bit more.

“There is a line and sometimes you cross it. I think if I look back at that, you learn from your mistakes and you try to address them. But I get the best out of my cricket when I am going 100 per cent. ”

His MCG appearance will mark a full-circle moment for

Pattinson who made his Test debut against New Zealand in 2011 before a spate of injuries continued to interrupt his career. The path back to the Test team for Pattinson included spinal fusion surgery in 2017 and moments when he thought the chance to play at home again had passed him by.

“The world we live in now, you’ve got to expect that things can pass you by,” he said.

“Having been through so much disappointment with my back, it’s always in the back of your mind. But I like to keep a positive mindset. I work one day at a time.

“I’ve been hungry pretty much my whole career. I’ve been through a lot of setbacks and the hunger has always been there.”

Pattinson, who made his Test return in the Ashes opener at Birmingham in August, has an outstanding record against New Zealand, and at the MCG.

He’s taken 20 Kiwi wickets in three Tests against them, and he has 12 wickets in two Boxing Day Tests, taking six wickets against both India in 2011 and the West Indies in 2015.

Pattinson hasn’t bowled in a match since a Sheffield Shield clash in November and his Test teammate Matthew Wade said the Kiwis could feel the force of a bowler ready to unleash.

“He hasn’t been much fun to face in the nets lately,” he said.