Kurtis Patterson picked in selectors’ backflip

Tuesday, 22 January 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ESPNCricinfo: Australia’s selectors have added Kurtis Patterson to the Test squad at the last possible moment, to face Sri Lanka after his twin centuries in the Hobart tour match made his case undeniable.

Originally omitted from the group to play in Brisbane and Canberra, Patterson churned out unbeaten innings of 157 and 102 at Bellerive Oval before being informed on Sunday night he had been added to the squad and would join Tim Paine’s team in Brisbane.

“I feel at the top of my game, hitting the ball as well as I ever have, which makes the addition to the squad really happy for me,” Patterson said. “You want to be picked when playing well and I feel I am. Obviously there’s some hard work to be done this week, but if I get that opportunity on Thursday I’ll be really looking forward to it.”

It was 8pm on Sunday evening when the call arrived, which meant an early morning flight to Brisbane on Monday to meet the Test squad for training, little more than 24 hours after it had been indicated there wouldn’t be any eleventh-hour additions to squad except for injury. “I had no expectations coming out of that Sri Lanka game that anything would occur,” he said. “The call came quite late so the entire day had passed and I was getting ready to pack my bags for Thunder [BBL] training.”