James Pattinson – The lion-hearted fast bowler

With legs and heart pumping, arms moving at the speed of knots, a firebrand fast bowler sends the stumps of the batsman cartwheeling. The next man about to take guard, shudders with fear, as the tearaway quick gets ready to unleash a barrage of bouncers. This fast bowling tribe can be very nasty indeed.

With scorching pace, disconcerting bounce and a wild glare, James Pattinson well and truly belongs to the nasty fast bowling tribe. The well built Pattinson is your archetypal fast bowler. His 90mph missiles can make a batsman feel like a cat on the hot tin roof. He also doesn’t mind snarling, growling and sledging at the batsman. Just like a true fast bowler, he believes the batsman is an object that has to be removed from the crease.

On a typical hot and humid Saturday at Chennai, the raging bull from Down Under was breathing fire and brimstone, as he cut a swathe through India’s top-order. The Indian opener, Vijay, didn’t have a clue, when a 90mph swinging thunderbolt sent his stumps for a walk in the park. The speed merchant from Down Under then proceeded to send shock waves through India’s much-vaunted batting line-up; by taking the wickets of both Sehwag and Pujara.

In the ongoing Test match at Chennai, James Pattinson has also shown that he can think a good game. While bowling to the little master, Tendulkar, he was using the crease beautifully to take advantage of reverse swing. He bowled a few well disguised slower deliveries that almost outfoxed the captain fantastic, Dhoni. At the age of just 22, Pattinson has learnt the art of hiding the ball from a batsman’s view, while it is reversing. It tells us, here is a fast bowler, who has a great variety of ammunition to fire the batsman back to the pavilion.

Barring Pattinson, other Australian bowlers have been largely ineffective in the first Test. But that hasn’t deterred him from bowling lion-hearted spells. The hallmark of a good bowler is – when the going gets tough, he gets going. Even when Dhoni was on a rampage and nearing his double hundred, Pattinson was able to garner respect. He exerted every sinew and was duly rewarded with a 5-for in the 1st test.

In his short and successful Test career, Pattinson has ticked all the right boxes. He takes his wickets at a shade under 22. He has a big heart and bowls fast. The 5-for he has taken at Chennai shows that he can hold his own on unresponsive tracks. By wearing his thinking cap on, the wonder boy of Australian cricket can plot the downfall of a batsman too.

Former Australian swing bowler, Damien Fleming on Pattinson, “When you are a tall guy like Pattinson and you can bowl 150km/h outswingers, and you are pretty accurate, you are going to get a lot of Test wickets.”

The only major worry with Pattinson is that he seems to spend more time at a surgeon’s table than at the bowling crease. Back problems, foot injuries and side-strains have haunted him in the past. With a very busy season ahead, which includes back-to-back Ashes series, this precious gem called James Pattinson has to be managed well by cricket Australia.

For cricket aficionados, his pace and hostility transports us back to an era that was thought to be long gone. There can’t be a much better sight in cricket, than watching stumps-cartwheeling, bails flying and batsmen hopping and ducking to vicious bouncers.