Cricket, more often than not, is a game of timing. And a little luck when you need it.
NSW batsmen Kurtis Patterson and Sam Konstas, at opposite ends of their careers, know that better than most. Both have worn the baggy green, only to discover how quickly a Test career can disappear.
In 2019, Patterson belted two hundreds for a Cricket Australia XI to force his way into Australia’s Test side against Sri Lanka. He averaged 144 in two Tests and never played for his country again after David Warner and Steve Smith returned from their sandpapergate bans later that year.
Five years later, Konstas cracked twin centuries in a Sheffield Shield match to propel himself into the Test side on Boxing Day. The then 19-year-old scored 60 in a stunning Test debut, but within 12 months was on the outer.
Now, a glimmer of scheduling luck might be on their side. The pair are in Perth with the NSW Blues, finishing a Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia. Both have peeled off sparkling centuries, with Australian selector Tony Dodemaide watching from the stands at the WACA.
Patterson’s first innings 122 at No.3 was his fourth first-class century in 24 months for the Blues, while Konstas backed up his first innings 71 with a blistering unbeaten 151 from 167 balls in the second dig.
From an east coast perspective, they are already (almost) halfway to South Africa. Given the carnage that unfolded in Gqeberha on Wednesday, when Australia lost 13 wickets in a day, selectors could do worse than enquire whether there are any business-class seats left on Friday afternoon’s QF65 flight from Perth to Johannesburg.
Parachuting one or both into South Africa remains highly unlikely, but they are two players firmly back in the conversation.
Opener Nic Maddinson (56 runs at 14) and No.3 Marnus Labuschagne (127 runs at 31.75) are fighting for their Test careers.
Don’t be flattered by the latter’s numbers this series. He is 47 innings and 38 months without a Test hundred. Labuschagne’s rash shot into a fierce headwind at Kingsmead – he was caught in the deep for 39 with Australia desperately trying to hang on for a draw – might be the last time ball meets bat in his Test career.
“How many players in the history of Australian cricket have been given this many opportunities without scoring a hundred?” former Test batsman Simon Katich asked on SEN.
“Back in the day, you were lucky if you didn’t get dropped after missing out 10 times, let alone 50.”
When Maddinson earned a shock call-up to Australia’s Test squad, it was assumed Patterson, his NSW teammate, had been overlooked because of a minor groin injury.
This week Patterson revealed that wasn’t the case.
“As far as I understand, it had nothing to do with that,” he said.
For all the domestic players frustrated by Maddinson’s shock selection, having not played a first-class match for 19 months, spare a thought for Patterson.
Since being axed by NSW in 2023, Patterson has rebuilt his career and become the Blues’ rock during the past two seasons, churning out 1362 Sheffield Shield runs at 45.6, including three centuries, at the time of Maddinson’s selection. Meanwhile, in last year’s One-Day Cup, Patterson scored 565 runs from eight innings at an average of 113.
The message from head selector George Bailey? Go back and make more runs.
That would be a tough one to comprehend when Maddinson had not made a first-class run during his recovery from testicular cancer, and Labuschagne continued to struggle at the highest level.
“The ambition is still there,” Patterson said this week. “I had a good chat with George [Bailey] maybe a month ago and there wasn’t much to report to be honest.”
Australia have ample batting options in South Africa. Cameron Green is fit and likely to return to the team, potentially at the expense of Beau Webster. Spare batters Josh Inglis, Cooper Connolly and Sam Harper have been grinding away in the nets and would be ready to do a job with the bat.
But if Australia want someone in form, with a mountain of experience and a point to prove, Patterson is their man. At 33, he knows his game very well, with more than 100 first-class appearances for NSW and a body of work during the past two seasons that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
For years, the Blues have lacked youngsters banging down the selection door with weight of red-ball runs. That appears to be changing under new coach Brad Haddin, with Ollie Davies also hitting 253 in the opening round before backing it up with another half-century in Perth as an opener.
Konstas, meanwhile, remains a headline-generating machine and a young man still working out his game. But his rapid-fire 151 was another reminder of his supreme talent and his bright future. David Warner even suggested on X on Wednesday night that Konstas could bat at No.3 in the third Test in Cape Town.
His Test career was put on hold last year after the West Indies tour, which was played on bowler-friendly pitches. Since then, Australia have tried Jake Weatherald, Matt Renshaw and Maddinson at the top of the order, with limited success.
With the first Test of the home summer against New Zealand not starting until December 9, there is still plenty of time for the deckchairs to move in Australia’s batting order based on Sheffield Shield form in November.
“I feel like I have a lot of clarity the way I am batting,” Konstas said. “It’s good to score some runs.”
Patterson has been asked countless times about his Test ambitions and continues to answer them with good grace. Considering he was relegated to club cricket two years ago, it would be quite the comeback if he were parachuted into the Test side at some stage.
“If you can do it [make runs] at the right time and the stars align, you never know,” he said.
