Saturday, November 17, 2012

I dont regret Sledging - James Pattinson


Criticised for sledging South Africa captain Graeme Smith during the drawn first Test in Brisbane, Australia's fastest bowler is preparing for another full-blooded stoush with Smith and Co in Adelaide next week.

"A lot of people have spoken to me saying, 'You shouldn't sledge Smith, he's done so much for the game, he's the longest-serving captain'," Pattinson said.

"You think about that stuff and you really respect that about them, but once you get out there you want to be a competitor - you want to beat them.
"If that's firing up and saying a couple of words to those people, I don't think it really matters who it is.
"If you can do that to get an edge over them it's just in the game. They're happy to say stuff to me, too.


"I really respect what they've done in cricket. They're fantastic role models and they've done so much for their country. But once you get out there you're competing against them and you want to try and beat them."
Pattinson, like his captain Michael Clarke earlier in the week, believes he has done nothing wrong.
He was breathing fire and brimstone in pursuit of victory for his country - and would do it again in a heartbeat.
"You don't go across the line but you do everything you can to win," Pattinson said.

"I take in the mentality that I try to be better than them, even though they've got a better record than me and they've achieved a lot more. I try and be as competitive as I can be against those players."
Affable off the field and unforgiving on it, it is hard to believe Pattinson is just 22 and barely one year into an injury-marred career.
Australia's best and most successful bowler in Brisbane, with five wickets for the match and the memory of skittling Hashim Amla on a no-ball, Pattinson already looks the leader of the attack.
He has 31 wickets from just six Tests at an average under 21. Despite his early success Pattinson knows he is up against four of the world's top 10 batsmen, some of them all-time greats.
"It is a daunting experience," he said. "You wouldn't be human if you didn't think about it, if you weren't nervous bowling to those batsmen.
"But I think once you do your planning and you back yourself ... the one thing we've got in our team at the moment is we all back ourselves and believe we can do it."
The Australians are particularly annoyed with Smith and other South African batsmen for constantly pulling away as the bowler is running in.

So when Smith stood back at the last second because a bird flew across the pitch on the last day in Brisbane, with Australia pressing for an unlikely victory, Pattinson lost it.
He delivered the ball anyway, then gave Smith a spray, prompting the veteran opener to wave him away and umpire Asad Rauf to gesture that everyone should cool it.
"It was a bit annoying," Pattinson said. "No fast bowler likes running in 30 metres as hard as they can and then be told to do it again for no reward. It is annoying but there is a lot happening at the ground.
"I'm not too sure whether it was a plan or there really were that many distractions. There wasn't as much of it for us, and that first morning went really slow because of the distractions.
"Whether that was purposely trying to hold us back a little bit, I don't know. The first ball, when I was warming up, Graeme Smith sat in the middle of the wicket and watched me warm up the whole time.
"I took notice of that and I was wondering whether that was a ploy to put me off and slow me down a little bit."
Australia did well to finish on the better side of a draw after South Africa lost just two wickets on day one and day two was washed out. The real bonus was Pattinson twice claiming the wicket of Smith cheaply.
"If you look at our captain, who has just come off 200 runs, your team builds a strong partnership around your captain," Pattinson said.

"If our captain is doing well, leading really well, performing, it gives everyone else in the team confidence.

"If you can target the captain, make plans that get him out cheaply, it puts pressure on a lot of the players in the team to do well if the captain's down.

"It might affect the way he captains the team if he's worried about his personal performance as well.

"The one thing about the way Pup (Clarke) is going at the moment, he doesn't have to worry about his personal performance because he's doing so well."

Heading into the second Test, beginning on Thursday, Pattinson hopes to bring the same aggression from the fifth day in Brisbane, when South Africa lost five wickets, hanging on grimly for a draw.

"One thing we did use was the short ball, quite well, on a wicket that was not offering a great deal," he said.

"To go out there and send a message like we did on that last day is going to hold us in pretty good shape going into Adelaide."








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