Kurtis Patterson set to be dropped from the NSW Sheffield Shield team amid horror run of form

New South Wales has gone 14 Sheffield Shield matches without a win and selectors have lost patience with the struggling Blues, with a big name set to be dropped.

Former Test batsman Kurtis Patterson is set to be dropped from the underperforming NSW team that is fast becoming a major headache for Australian cricket.

NSW has long been the chief producers of talent for the national Test team, but the Blues are at a crossroads having now gone 14 consecutive Sheffield Shield matches without a win.

The Blues’ hit rock bottom last week when they lost to a struggling South Australian side which themselves won only two matches last season, although NSW did at least bounce back to claim the one-day fixture between the two teams.

This masthead understands Patterson is poised to pay the price and be axed from the Shield team for Thursday’s next crunch fixture against Victoria in Melbourne.

Patterson has endured a difficult couple of seasons since the highs of his debut Test summer against Sri Lanka back in early 2019, when he smashed a hundred in just his second Test and was unlucky to be omitted from Australia’s Ashes squad that same year.

After losing the NSW captaincy at the tail end of last year’s winless Blues’ season, Patterson is now set to find himself dropped from the Sheffield Shield team after nearly 100 first-class games.

Kurtis Patterson is set to be dropped from the NSW Sheffield Shield team. Picture: Getty Images

At just 30 years of age, Patterson’s batting decline has sadly mirrored the overall state of affairs at Cricket NSW where they have lost their mantle as the No.1 cricket nursery in the country.

Australian cricket would have desperately hoped – and benefitted from – Patterson being a locked-in Test player at this point, or at least vying for a position in the top six.

That title as Australia’s chief production line has now well and truly been claimed by Western Australia, who are the new powerhouse of domestic cricket.

NSW desperately need a win against Victoria to avoid slumping towards another fruitless summer.

Although half the Test team is still made up of NSW-bred players, there is a seismic changing of the guard looming in the next couple of years with David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins all on the other side of 30 and closer to the end of their careers than the start.

Aside from World Cup squad member Sean Abbott and reserve bowler Tanveer Sangha, there aren’t any other NSW players knocking the door down for national selection.

Many across Australian cricket are concerned what the consequences might be for the national team in a few years’ time if the void in NSW continues.

The concern isn’t with the talent itself. Young players are still coming through the ranks, but the alarming aspect is this hasn’t been translating into development and results at the State level.

NSW had Queensland on toast in round one of this year’s Shield competition but failed to bowl the Bulls out on the final day.

The 186-run loss to South Australia was a low point in recent NSW history, but there is still time to turn the season around if a young squad can lift itself off the canvas against Victoria.

Originally published as Kurtis Patterson set to be dropped from the NSW Sheffield Shield team amid horror run of form