James Pattinson was born 3 May 1990 in Melbourne, Australia and is the younger brother of Darren who played for Notts from 2008 to 2012; Grimsby-born Darren, although brought up Australia, played one Test for England; James, a left-hand bat and intimidating right-arm fast bowler, has currently played 21 Tests (81 wickets @26.33), 15 limited-overs internationals and four T20 internationals for Australia.
Pattinson played for Dandenong CC in the Victorian Premier League and appeared for Australia in five matches in the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. He made his First-Class debut for Victoria in November 2008 v Western Australia at the WACA, Perth. On 23 December 2009, Pattinson broke the record for the best List A bowling for Victoria taking 6 for 48 against New South Wales at the SCG. In 2010 he was selected for Australia A against Sri Lanka A at Townsville, taking 5 wickets in an innings victory. Pattinson was named in the Australian ODI squad for the tour of Bangladesh in April 2011. He made his ODI debut in the third and final match of the series and took the wicket of Imrul Kayes. Pattinson joined the Australian Test squad for the 2011 tour to Sri Lanka, but did not play a Test
He started 2011/12 season in good form for Victoria and after taking 4 for 96 for Australia A against the New Zealand tourists he made his Test debut at Brisbane on 1 December. It proved hugely successful as Pattinson was man of the match, taking 5-27 in the second innings. He then took five wickets in the first innings of the second test and was named Man of the Series, with 14 wickets @14.00. He won another Man of the Match award in his next Test, the 2011 Boxing Day encounter against India, with match figures of 6-108 and 55 runs. Before the third Test against India in March 2013, Australia dropped Pattinson, along with three of his teammates following a breach of discipline. Pattinson later returned to the Australian Test team during the West Indies tour of Australia in December 2015. In his first Test match back, Pattinson achieved his fourth five wicket haul, taking 5-27, which equalled his previous best bowling figures. He also reverted to his old bowling action, which gave him more control and pace that reached close to 150 km/h, but at a risk of re-injuring his back.
Pattinson joined Notts for the start of their promotion winning 2017 season and made a big impression, playing five championship matches taking 32 wickets @12.06. On his debut at Grace Road he scored a Notts best 89 not out, adding 122 for the eighth wicket with Stuart Broad, and taking 8 for 84 in the match. Notts won four of the five 4-day games that Pattinson played and would have won the fifth, rain arriving with Notts needing 75 in their second innings to beat Kent. Pattinson played in 10 matches as Notts won the Royal London Cup, hitting the winning runs against Surrey at Lord’s and taking 13 wickets in the tournament, including 4 for 42 versus Leicester at Welbeck.
Pattinson returned home after the final with a stress fracture of the back (his third of his career) and did not play cricket for 15 months. A successful return saw him take 26 First-Class victims in the Australian summer of 2018-19 and play for Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash. As a result, Pattinson returned to Notts but had a frustrating injury-ridden 2019, appearing in only three championship games, taking a Notts best 6-73 at Tunbridge Wells. His impact in the 50 over competition was greater – Notts winning all six games in which he set foot on the field, with figures of 5-61 versus Lancashire in a high scoring encounter at Trent Bridge. Later in the summer he played in the Ashes Tests at Edgbaston and Headingley taking five wickets. Pattinson scored 252 runs @36.00 in eight championship matches for Notts and took 40 wickets @15.53. In List A cricket he appeared in 17 matches for Notts claiming 24 wickets @30.79 and scoring 98 runs @16.33.
In October 2021, James Pattinson announced his retirement from international cricket after deciding he would not be in a position to push for an Ashes berth in the upcoming series. He said that he hopes to play domestic cricket in Australia for three or four more years and did not rule out a return to county cricket. Indeed, he was back in Notts colours for the 2022 season, playing in eight matches and taking 33 wickets before being released from the remainder of his Nottinghamshire contract at his own request.
The 32-year-old, who had taken 73 First-Class wickets at 21.71 across three spells with the Green and Golds, explained that he came to the decision for a combination of fitness and family reasons.
November 2023
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 642
See James Pattinson's career stats (to date) here