James Pattinson, an Australian fast bowler, announced his retirement from international cricket on Wednesday after realizing he would not be considered for the Ashes series owing to fitness problems. The 31-year-old will continue to play domestic cricket despite having played 21 Tests and 15 ODIs.
Pattinson just suffered the injury during an intra-squad Victorian trial game. “Leading into pre-season, I really wanted to give the Ashes a shot, but in the end, I haven’t got the training I would have liked moving into the next season,” Pattinson said in a statement.
Pattison said that “If I were to play in the Ashes, I would have to do my teammates and myself justice.” I didn’t want to be in a situation where I had to fight my body when I needed to be 100% fit and ready to go at all times. That would be unjust to the team or me. “It was then that I decided that rather than trying to play at the highest level, knowing I only ever had 3 or 4 years of cricket remaining, I would concentrate more on Victoria, supporting the youths grow, perhaps some cricket in England, and spending more time with my family.” After making his Test debut in December 2011 with Mitchell Starc and David Warner against New Zealand in Brisbane, he went on to take 81 Test wickets and 16 ODI scalps. His final Test was always against New Zealand in Sydney in January 2020, while his last ODI was against England in Leeds in September 2015.
