Pattinson gambles on bowling action

SYDNEY: Through all the months and years of work on James Pattinson’s bowling action, the prevention of injury was tantamount in everyone’s thinking. But in the middle of his first Test match appearance for nearly two years, Pattinson reached an epiphany of sorts — if he wasn’t taking wickets, he would find himself dropped no matter how fit he was.

So it was that Pattinson that did some mid-match tinkering against the West Indies in Hobart, and duly found the rhythm that had been frequently missing at times over the preceding year. A rediscovered outswinger enabled Pattinson to claim his first wicket of the match, and a series of fast deliveries that stood up the seam which led to a return of 5 for 27 and a feeling of relief akin to the completion of a Test debut.

At the same time, Pattinson acknowledged that by reverting to elements of his former bowling action — namely an arm path closer to his body that allows him to get his wrist position right — he was taking a risk of re-injuring his back, which still carries traces of the stress fractures that had stalled his career. He is hopeful that at a more mature age of 25 and 93kg, as opposed to the 86kg he once weighed in at, his body will be able to cope with the load.

“I just ran in and wanted to bowl fast like I did when I first came on the scene,” Pattinson said. “I looked at a bit of vision the night before and I wasn’t releasing the ball in the right position, where I wanted to. So I did a little bit of work on it in the morning just to get my wrist behind the ball a bit more and get that seam good for out swing.

“It was frustrating because I had changed my action and I didn’t feel completely comfortable with it and I think in the second innings here I just went ‘stuff it really, I’m just going to go out and try and bowl like I used to bowl’ and just run in and bowl fast.

“And I thought if I bowl like I did in the first innings I probably won’t be getting too many more games, so you better change something. So it’s been a frustrating six months or so but it’s good to get a bag of wickets now. Every time I ran in to bowl I was just hoping and waiting for that bag of wickets and that confidence that I’ve been lacking over the last couple of years.

“I’ve sort of gone back a bit now. It’s hard because when you run in and bowl you don’t want to be thinking about your action. I’ve made the change to try and stop injuries but hopefully now that I’m back in the team and I’m a bit older, hopefully my body will hold up and I can go back a little bit to where I was when I first started playing because that’s when I think I’m bowling my best.”