INJURY WOES

Pattinson may undergo major back surgery

by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on

James Pattinson is in discussions with New Zealand specialists, including a leading surgeon who successfully salvaged Shane Bond's career © Getty

James Pattinson, the injury-prone Australian quick, is set to undergo a major back surgery in what shapes as a desperate last effort to save his Test career.

The Victorian paceman could be headed to New Zealand to fix recurring stress fractures that have plagued his career and ended his Ashes hopes this summer. Pattinson and Cricket Australia (CA) medical staff are in discussions with New Zealand specialists, including a leading surgeon who successfully salvaged former New Zealand quick Shane Bond's career.

The procedure would involve a graft from the 27-year-old's hip being fused to the problematic vertebrae with screws and/or wire. "Stabilise the area ... like having a cast on your foot," CA's sports science chief Alex Kountouris said on Tuesday (October 31). "There's a few tests we have to do to see if he's a good candidate.

"There's a lot of people in Australia who do this surgery, it's reasonably common but none of them have included any fast bowlers that have come back to the elite level," he added.

Stress fractures have been a scourge for an Australian attack constantly fighting the injury plague. However, Pattinson's issues loom as the most complicated and serious with four of his previous stress fractures being in the same spot.

"It's always better to do things without surgery than with surgery because of the inherent risk of any operation," team doctor Richard Saw said. "We have some surgical options with James because of the complexity of his case."

It is a crippling blow for Pattinson, who burst onto the international arena in late 2011 and was tipped to be Australia's long-term spearhead. He has claimed 70 wickets from just 17 Tests but last appeared during the tour of New Zealand in early 2016.

Pattinson appeared to be fit and firing when he started the English county season in stunning form earlier this year but aggravated a lower back stress fracture that ruled him out of the tour of Bangladesh.

Kountouris believed Australia's frontline attack of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Pat Cummins had prepared well for the looming Ashes but said nothing was guaranteed. He declared Cummins, who has only played five Tests since making his debut in late 2011, as being healthy but he would be monitored closely.

"Our goal is to get them to the first Test and there's no set goal beyond that," Kountouris said. "With Pat there's nothing wrong with him, we just know that in this series if he plays all five Tests he's doubled the amount of matches he's played in his Test career. So it's uncharted territory for him."

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