Shane Warne ambush showed Kurtis Patterson’s nerves of steel
Australia’s desperate hunt for a big occasion batsman has led them to a player who might be the only 17-year-old to ever hit Shane Warne out of the park.
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Australia’s desperate hunt for a big occasion batsman has led them to a player who might be the only 17-year-old to ever hit Shane Warne out of the park.
And amazingly … it was from the very first ball he faced.
Kurtis Patterson on Monday earned a stunning promotion from outside the Test squad into pole position for a baggy green debut at the Gabba, having slaughtered Sri Lanka with two unbeaten hundreds in a pink ball tour game on the weekend.
The Sri Lankans are now already acutely aware that Patterson can play, but the tourists could be in big trouble if NSW’s Mr Consistent shows them the same disdain he did for the greatest big game performer of them all when he was just a fresh-faced teen.
In a centenary game for his local grade club St George back in 2010 at Hurstville Oval, Patterson launched a pull shot so sweetly off the first delivery he saw from Warne — who was still in the midst of his Big Bash career — that the banished ball bounced down a neighbouring street.
It might have been for charity, but the famous Warne aura that made knees tremble around the world for two decades simply rebounded off the force field emanated by the steely left-hander.
Ben Horne, Robert Craddock and Gideon Haigh join the ‘Cricket Unfiltered’ podcast to discuss all the news surrounding the Australian team in the lead up to the Test series against Sri Lanka.
SUBSCRIBE to the ‘Cricket Unfiltered’ podcast here
Just 12 months later in 2011, Patterson became the youngest ever batsman to score a Sheffield Shield hundred on debut, further reinforcing the feeling this week in Brisbane that Patterson possesses a demeanour that won’t be intimidated by the Test arena.
Two seasons ago Patterson was as close as any batsman has come in recent memory to a Test debut during one of the last clean-outs of the side, only to be pipped at the post by Nic Maddinson who came from nowhere at the 11th hour.
However, Patterson admitted on Tuesday he was glad his number wasn’t called that day, as he relishes a rare opportunity to realise his boyhood dream while in the form of his career.
“I feel right at the top of my game now so I’m really glad the selection has come now rather than previously,” said Patterson.
“I was fine to be honest (when I missed out). I’ve never really gone outside my box with those things. There’s obviously been a bit of chat in previous years … but it’s never really affected me.
“I feel at the top of my game. I feel like I’m hitting the ball as well as I ever have, which makes this addition to the squad (a) really happy (one) for me.
“You want to be picked when you feel like you’re playing well, and I feel like I am at the moment.
“Obviously there’s some hard work to be done this week but if I get the opportunity this week I feel like I’ll be ready for it.”
Selectors have wanted to pick Patterson for years but the one knock on the St George junior has been that he doesn’t convert enough 50s into 100s.
A lopsided record of 26 first-class half centuries for only six hundreds reflects that, but all along Patterson has maintained a healthy average of 40 for almost every season he’s played for NSW.
And this season, the tide has turned; Patterson made a heavy duty ton against Western Australia in tough conditions in Perth and then went out and made two unbeaten centuries against the Sri Lankans in Hobart with selector Greg Chappell watching on.
“(It’s turned from) almost just taking a step back and relaxing when I’m out there in the middle,” said Patterson.
“I’ve said previously that in the last couple of years I’ve thought about it too much when I’ve got in and tried to change too many things in the middle of my innings, whereas this year I’m just kind of letting it happen — just enjoying being in the present when I’m out there and making the most of those opportunities when I do get in.
“I’ve just been getting my hands a little bit higher in my stance, onto my hip — apart from that it’s just been mental changes: trying to develop some nice simple, sound routines throughout my innings when I bat.”
Every Test, ODI, T20I, and BBL match live. SIGN UP NOW!
Originally published as Shane Warne ambush showed Kurtis Patterson’s nerves of steel
‘Golden age’: Smith century makes history
Steve Smith has done it again, rewriting the cricket history books with another century and breaking records held by Ricky Ponting.
Smith, Carey tons put Aussies on cusp of Sri Lankan sweep
Steve Smith ensconced his status as Australia’s Asian batting master as the skipper and Alex Carey drove the tourists towards the verge of a rare Test series win in the subcontinent.