Darren Pattinson spent many more hours than he wanted facing his younger brother in the backyard, but it was not until the intervention of an emerging club cricketer, Cameron White, that he began to realise James had the makings of a demon paceman.
Well before Darren became a shock Test debutant for England, he was a roof tiler for who cricket was just a minor part of his weekend social routine. His arduous work, which he began at 16, meant he had little enthusiasm when he came home and his brother, 12 years' his junior, wanted to practice in the backyard.
James Pattinson.Credit: Getty Images
"Because I was a lot older he was nagging me to play . . . I was at that sort of age where I was going out to pubs and stuff like that," Darren said yesterday. "If we were going to play in the backyard he had to bowl because I didn't really want to bowl at him, so I'd sit there blocking the crap out of him . . . no wonder he's turned into a bowler."
Despite James's requirement to bowl relentlessly to Darren in the backyard he forged his junior career as an opening batsman. By his mid-teens, seeking to emulate his older brother, he tagged along to an off-season training session with Victorian Premier Cricket side Dandenong. His trial, however, did not go to expectations.
Darren Pattinson.Credit: Getty Images
"He'd had a bit of a growth spurt and 'Whitey' [Cameron White] was still there playing. He saw him bowling in the nets and said, 'Don't worry about batting mate, you're going to be a bowler'. He was probably 14 then."
Once White's advice was taken, the then-lanky James focused on steaming in with the ball. Selection in state age-group squads ensued.
Victoria, unlike NSW, does not have a great recent record of identifying and promoting elite young pace talent – Peter Siddle, also from Dandenong, is an exception – but they awarded James a rookie contract almost 4 years ago, just a month after his 17th birthday. It meant that by the time Darren found his way into the Bushrangers team in his late 20s selectors were already looking past him to the other Pattinson.
One of the most significant factors in Pattinson's rise has been his significant change in body shape. Darren recalls going to England for his county stint two or three years ago and returning six months later to find his younger brother had transformed his near-concave chest to one that was more convex – and built for sustained pace.
"He definitely filled out. He was pretty tall and lanky, and over that six-month period he did plenty of work with 'Bails' [David Bailey, Victoria strength and conditioning coach] and the rest of the fitness staff," Darren said.
Positive murmurings about the potential of Pattinson increased just before Christmas two years ago when, in just his third domestic one-day game, he snared 6-48 against NSW at the SCG, taking the only six wickets to fall from the home side.
In September last year, James was in South Africa for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament when he discovered that instead of flying home he would be flying to India as a standby player – along with fellow Test squad newcomer Mitchell Starc – for Australia's Test series there. No Test debut flowed from that, nor from the tour to Sri Lanka a few months ago, but the long-term intentions of the old selection panel regarding the right-armer were clear. The new selection panel seems similarly impressed.
Throughout James' fledgling career he has regularly sought advice from Darren. While the older brother's first-class record of 171 wickets at an average of 32.99 is nothing to sneer at – he certainly deserves better than to be thought of solely as a one-Test wonder – he had no qualms in admitting the cricketing power balance in the family has already shifted.
"His main focus has always been cricket; my main focus back then wasn't, it was [just] something to do on the weekend. But he's spent all his life coming up . . . For him . . . he's always been building up for this moment," he said.
"A couple of years ago I still had him for pace but not any more . . . He's gone well and truly past me. I'm really proud of him."
Darren's admiration and passion for James's career is so strong he has reversed his long-standing reluctance to watch matches he is not involved in. His latest career setback – a back injury is going to sideline him until after Christmas – will allow him to forego his Bushrangers training and playing responsibilities to travel to Brisbane to watch the Test match.