Former Australian quick James Pattinson admits his own actions played a part in his forced retirement from cricket.
Pattinson announced his retirement from international cricket in October last year. The decision came at a time when many believed Pattinson was the next inline behind the ‘big three’ quicks of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitch Starc.
But continual injuries, the last one to his knee, eventually forced his hand.
The now 32-year-old, who ended up with 21 Tests and 81 wickets to his name, was a fiery figure on the field, and Pattinson says that was an area of his game he couldn’t restrain.
“To be honest, I had no control of what I did on the field,” Pattinson conceded on SEN’s This Is Your Journey – thanks to Tobin Brothers.
“I think I just get in the zone, and I think that’s probably why I’ve been able to come back from setbacks… that will to win.
“Through a game, there’s so many different emotions going through your head and in Test match cricket, people don’t realise that you're on the whole time, even when you’re in the sheds… you’re on the whole time, you’re riding every emotion.
“When you’re out there and you just want to win so badly, sometimes you do things you just can’t control, it just comes out. For me, I think it’s always been that hunger to win.”
But that hunger to play and be the best ultimately contributed to Pattinson’s downfall.
Back injuries in particular limited Pattinson’s ability to participate at the top level, and the Victorian said he got used to bowling through the pain.
“I sort of did that at training as well (giving everything I’ve got), when I bowled at training I wanted to scare people and that sort of thing,” Pattinson added.
“It probably contributed to a few of my injuries as well, there were times there when I knew I had stress fractures in my back and I just kept playing and making them worse because I didn’t really want to stop playing.
“That was the hardest part. I was quite good at getting through pain and bowling through pain, it was probably my downfall in the end.”
Of all Australians to take 80 or more wickets, Pattinson sits with the 20th-best average of 26.33, better than the likes of big names Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson.