Mumbai:Australia pace bowler James Pattinson, who is recovering from a back stress fracture injury, believes that fast bowlers may play only one format in future amid the ever-increasing volume of cricket.
“I think with the amount of cricket you’ve got now, with all three formats … you’ll probably see bowlers will probably stick to the one format, or not as much one-day stuff,” Pattinson told cricket.com.au.
The Victorian speedster cited the example of England, who have different set of bowlers for different formats, and said it may become a norm in the coming years. “England do it well with their bowlers, they’ve got specialist one-day players, and you see Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson just playing Test cricket, and that seems to do quite well for them,” he said.
Pattinson, who has started bowling in the nets after undergoing a surgery in November last year, said he aggravated his injuries because of the demands of playing different formats of the game.
“I think I pretty much got it right last time, I probably just bowled for a bit too long. I got through a year and then with the Bangladesh series (approaching), I was straight back into bowling. It’s just about being smart about when there’s opportunities to have a bit of a rest – feet up and go again, rather than just trying to go all year round,” he said.
The 28-year-old also referred to the injuries of his pace partners — Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins– to highlight how playing all the three formats is taking a heavy toll on pacers’ bodies.
“You see our three quicks who have had a pretty big summer and they’ve succumbed to that, so it’s really hard,” he said.
Pattinson, who has played only 17 Tests and 15 ODIs since making his debut in 2011 due to a spate of injuries, is hopeful of making a comeback to the national team soon. He, though, is not sure if he will be playing Test cricket.
“I never doubt my ability in getting back there – obviously it’s just the history with injuries. That’s the thing, whether I can get back. It’s pretty hard, Test cricket bowling. Whether my body allows me, I will be doing everything I possibly can to get back there,” he said.