Pattinson out of IPL for abdominal surgery

 

James Pattinson is expected to take four weeks to resume traning

James Pattinson, the Australia fast bowler, is out of the IPL and may also miss the Champions Trophy that precedes the Ashes after he was compelled to have surgery on what Cricket Australia has described as “a non-cricket related medical condition in his lower abdominal region.”

The departure of Pattinson to India for his stint with Kolkata Knight Riders was initially delayed until Friday as medical staff awaited the results of tests and the advice of specialists. However, on receipt of opinion that Pattinson should undergo surgery immediately, he has been ruled out of competing in the Twenty20 event, joining the national captain Michael Clarke on the sidelines.

Pattinson wishes to keep the condition private, but it is not believed to be serious, nor likely to affect his cricket future beyond the time required to recover from the surgery.

“James Pattinson will be having surgery tomorrow for a non-cricket related medical condition in his lower abdominal region that has troubled him during the latter part of the recently concluded tour of India,” CA’s chief medical officer Justin Paoloni said. “James has undergone tests and consulted specialists since returning from India, and it was felt that surgery is necessary at this time.

“The recovery times will [be] determined once the surgery is completed but James is expected to return to training in about four weeks. His preparation for The Ashes is not expected to be affected but his availability for the ICC Champions Trophy will be determined at a later stage.”

Watson admits batting form a concern

Shane Watson endured a lean series in India by his standards     Shane Watson has conceded that he risks being dropped unless he can  find a way to start scoring big runs again, after yet another disappointing series with the bat. Watson, who was the acting captain in the last Test in Delhi, managed only 99 runs at 16.50 during the Indian tour. This continued a long, unproductive batting stretch, where in the past two years he has made 627 Test runs at 24.11, and has not posted a century.

His lack of runs was even more noticeable during this series because he had chosen not to bowl to stay fit and string together as much cricket as possible after an injury-plagued couple of seasons. Before the series, the captain, Michael Clarke, said that as a specialist batsman, Watson would face competition from a larger pool of players for a place in the team, as compared to when he plays as an all-rounder.

“There is no doubt that I need to score runs,” Watson said at the end of the Indian tour. “As a batsman who’s batting in the top four at the moment, I need to score runs. Unfortunately, during this series I’ve scored nowhere near the [amount of] runs that I’ve wanted to, to be able to give to the team’s performance.

“There’s no doubt cricket’s a performance-based game. If I’m not scoring runs or taking wickets, then you can’t expect to be picked. There are no secrets about it. You can’t hide behind anything, apart from your performance. In this series I’ve not performed anywhere near where I’ve wanted to. I’m looking forward to being able to continue to play and hopefully get some continuity with my game over the next few months, and be in some good touch when the selectors announce the Ashes squad.”

Watson’s case for being part of the XI for the first Ashes Test will be strengthened by the fact that he is expected to be bowling again by then, and his medium-pace has a habit of providing breakthroughs at important times for the Australians. But bowling has also generally been responsible for the many injuries that have prevented him from playing even half the amount of Tests he could have.

He missed all the 2011-12 home summer of Tests due to calf and hamstring problems, and played only half of Australia’s home Tests in 2012-13, again due to a calf injury. However, Watson intends to slowly start building up his bowling workload during the second half of the IPL, and hopes to be in a place to bowl unrestricted during the Ashes, which starts in July.

“One thing I have realised is how much I do miss bowling, and it has been a plan over the last two or three months to get my body to a place where I can get back into bowling again, and hopefully hold together for the cricket we have coming up,” Watson said. “There is no doubt coming here as a specialist batsman has not worked out anywhere near where I wanted it to.

“It didn’t work in that regard, but in the end I am an all-rounder, I love being an all-rounder. At times it has been hard not to bowl knowing what I can give to the game. I know I won’t always be able to score runs or take wickets, but if I’m an all-rounder, I’ve got more [of a] chance to give to the team’s performance and success. I have to stay on top of my body so that I can play the amount of cricket I want to.”