Kurtis Patterson shares heart-to-heart with Test selectors on where he stands
NSW captain Kurtis Patterson says 30 plus scores won’t get him into the Test side as he focuses on 100s.
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FEW in Australian cricket boast as many 30 plus scores as Kurtis Patterson, but the NSW captain has been told he will be judged on the old school criteria of making hundreds.
Cricket Australia released a document in the wake of the Test team naming to reveal that scoring 30s is now a key pillar in selection.
But it appears high performance sabermetrics don’t cut mustard at the coalface, with Patterson hearing from the horse’s mouth, National Selector Trevor Hohns that he must make first-class centuries to earn a baggy green.
Patterson has passed 30 in nine of his past 16 innings and his first-class average of 40 with 23 half centuries from 52 matches tells the story of a player who is as reliable as any in the country at getting starts.
Two of those 30 plus scores were made on the recent Australia A Test-selection shootout tour of India, where Cricket Australia were supposedly putting an emphasis on players who could get starts and negate the risk of calamitous collapses in Asian conditions.
But Patterson’s case appears to confirm that Hohns and coach Justin Langer hold a very different opinion on what is required to play Test cricket: he has only five first-class centuries and none in the past two years and therefore was not considered to take on Pakistan.
Patterson feels buoyed by the direct feedback he received from Hohns and is confident he is close to unlocking the mystery of converting his starts.
“In chats with the coaches and Trevor, they mentioned that my consistent starts, if you will, were noted as such – but obviously one hundred in my last 20 games of Shield cricket just doesn’t cut it,” Patterson told The Daily Telegraph.
“I completely understand that that to be picked for Australia you need to be able to score consistent hundreds.
“I had a couple of really good chats with Trevor over (in India) which was good … just to hear from them directly exactly what they’re after … and know where I stand.
“That line of communication was good to have over there.
“(Converting starts) is something I’m certainly addressing and speaking with the relevant people I trust.”
NSW are desperate to turn around their 0-3 start to the one-day cup, although the bizarre finals system includes all teams regardless of where they finish on the ladder.
Patterson says the promise shown by young guns Jack Edwards and Daniel Sams has given the Blues reason for optimism.
“(There’s been some batting) that’s been really good to see from Jack and Daniel Sams has fitted in like a glove,” he said.
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