The Pattinson debate
In his column for the Telegraph , Alastair Cook feels people have rather conveniently made a scapegoat of Darren Pattinson after the Headingley defeat, forgetting that England were actually outplayed in all departments
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
In his column for the Telegraph, Alastair Cook feels people have rather conveniently made a scapegoat of Darren Pattinson after the Headingley defeat, forgetting that England were actually outplayed in all departments.
It must have been difficult for 'Patto' to come into the team when he didn't know anybody. And yes, there was a disruptive effect on Friday morning when the changes were made. It always takes that little bit longer to get into the game when you have a turnover of personnel. Even Andrew Flintoff probably had to get used to being back after all the time he has missed.
Staying with Pattinson, Michael Atherton in the Times says no such selection has provoked more comment, most of it adverse.
Jonathan Agnew, the BBC's Cricket Correspondent, was incandescent. Trying to gather some last-minute information on the internet about Pattinson, he was redirected to the Cricket Australia website. Then, interviewing Pattinson shortly after he received his cap, Agnew was taken aback when, in response to a question that asked of Pattinson whether this was a moment he had dreamt of all his life, he simply said, with disarming honesty: “No.”
He also feels the idea that an English upbringing makes for greater commitment in the middle has never struck him as having one grain of truth in it.
With his strong, repeatable action he did not look out of place and if he was trying any less hard than the others, it was not apparent to me. But for most this was irrelevant. Because he had not spent his formative years drinking warm beer in a village pub, somehow he was not as worthy.
Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo