James Pattinson, the Australia fast bowler, may have broken down again with serious injury after he complained of side pain when taking the second new ball on the third morning of the second Test against South Africa in Adelaide.
Having bowled the first ball of the 84th over, Pattinson, 22, spoke to his captain Michael Clarke and walked off the ground. After speaking with the team physio Alex Kountouris it emerged that he was troubled by pain in his left side. The chances of Pattinson appearing again in this match now appear minimal, and he will be taken for scans to assess the problem this afternoon.
The most hostile and aggressive of Australia's crop of young fast bowlers, Pattinson has battled a succession of injuries since he first toured for the national side in India in 2010. A brilliant start to his Test career last summer was curtailed by a foot injury during the Sydney Test against India in January.
It was later revealed that Australia's selectors chose to play Pattinson in the SCG Test despite medical evidence that he was at high risk of suffering an injury due to his bowling workload up to that point. They preferred to keep him in the team due to his strong bowling form, and he duly suffered from a stress injury in Sydney.
Pattinson then returned to action during the West Indies tour, but while playing in the Trinidad Test suffered a back injury while throwing off balance from the outfield and was sent home. His lead-in to this summer's home Tests was carefully managed, affording him a quartet of Sheffield Shield matches and no Twenty20 cricket.
Before the Adelaide Test, Pattinson said he did not want to be rested, as his body felt free of niggles. "At the moment I've got no soreness in my body, so I want to keep playing, I don't want to get rested," he said. "But I suppose there'll come a time when I'll have a high workload and it'll look like I'm going to get rested as we've spoken about.
"I'm happy for that, I put the faith in the medical staff's hands and if they think it's a good idea for me to get rested one Test then so be it. We've got to want what's best for the team and if that's best for the team then so be it."
Pattinson sidelined by side pain
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Pattinson sidelined by side pain
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Pattinson sidelined by side pain
