James Pattinson needs more time, feels Steven Smith

James Pattinson’s short career has been affected by a spate of injuries

Australian skipper Steven Smith said that James Pattinson needs to devote more time in domestic cricket before he could be considered for a call-up to the Test side, cricket.com.au reports. The 26-year-old also stated that the fast bowler also needs to get more comfortable with his remodelled action.

On Tuesday, the Australian selection committee announced a 15-man squad for the Bangladesh tour, in which some notable emissions along with James Pattinson, were Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood. The squad featured new names like Andrew Fekete and Cameron Bancroft while Adam Voges was named vice-captain of the squad, in the absence of opener David Warner.

"I think for Jimmy it's just about playing a bit more cricket first, Hopefully he can get back and play in the Matador Cup and the first couple of Shield games”, Smith said as quoted by Cricket Australia’s official website. "He's got a different action at the moment and he's got to get himself comfortable with that, keep looking to get better with that and more consistent. I'm sure we'll see him in the future."

Pattinson played in the recently concluded ODI series against England, in which Australia emerged victorious, beating the hosts 3-2. He featured in just two matches on the tour and failed to grab any wickets, with an economy of over seven.

Smith seemed to echo the sentiment of Australian selection chairman, Rod Marsh, who felt that Pattinson was a little under confident.

"According to the reports I've got from Trevor Hohns and Darren Lehmann in England, is that he's lacking a bit of confidence," Marsh said. "It won't hurt him to go back to Matador Cup and Shield cricket and find that form that made him a very, very hot prospect a few years ago."

Pattinson confident of returning to form

However, with the domestic season soon approaching, Pattinson, who played for Australia A last month in India, will be hoping to work on his action and form as he looks to make a strong comeback and get in the scheme of things again for Australia.

"When you make changes (to your action) it affects other parts of the body and with those changes I made, my hamstring went," Pattinson said. "So I've done a fair bit of work trying to strengthen that up as well as trying to not think about my action too much and just let it go. Last year I was probably still thinking about my action a bit. I'm really comfortable with that and now it's about playing games and getting some consistency.”

Pattinson believes that with age on his side he can return to his earlier pace and form, provided he stays away from further injuries.

“I'm still swinging the ball in the nets, which is a good sign. Probably being more side-on I've got to finish off a bit more ... and hopefully that won't affect my outswing. It hasn't yet. (My pace) is getting better. The more I play, the better I feel. I'm feeling really good hopefully now that I've tipped over the other side of 25 (years old) I can try and stay on the park and get some good luck," he said.