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Hobart, Dec 9: Aussie skipper Steve Smith backed James Pattinson to deliver the ‘X-factor’ as the fast bowler returns to Test cricket leading Australia’s attack in the first Test against West Indies starting here Thursday.
Injury-plagued Pattinson, who played the last of his 13 Tests against South Africa in March 2014, got the nod ahead of Nathan Coulter-Nile to replace Mitchell Starc, who is out with a stress fracture in his foot. He will join Josh Hazlewood and Peter Siddle in the new-ball attack, backed up by all-rounder Mitch Marsh.
“Patto’s a quality bowler. He bowls at 150kph (93 mph) when he’s got everything together,” Smith said here Wednesday while announcing the final XI for the match. “So he brings that kind of X-factor to the team. He’s got a lot of aggression he’s not afraid to show, which I think is a great attribute.”
Smith asserted that his team was not taking anything out of the West Indies’ poor lead-in to the Hobart Test when they lost to a rookie Cricket Australia XI by 10 wickets in Brisbane last weekend.
“We want to win this series 3-0. I wouldn’t read too much in the way the tour match went for the West Indies,” Smith informed. The West Indies have some quality bowlers in their attack, led by Jerome Taylor. “So we can’t take them lightly and we have to play each ball on its merits and put up a good first innings score.
The Bellerive wicket had a greenish tinge on the eve of the Test, indicating that the pace bowlers will get some early life out of the pitch. And this is what the West Indians want to exploit early on.
“Obviously, our fast bowlers are our main weapons,” said skipper Jason Holder. “The weather being cool here, they can bowl a bit longer and express themselves,” he said.
