James Pattinson, John Hastings return to boost Victoria

All-rounder John Hastings returns to the Bushrangers line-up for Saturday's Ryobi Cup clash with the in-form Redbacks at Skilled Stadium in Geelong.

Hastings, who missed last week's day-night victory over Queensland with a leg injury, is one of two changes to the Bushrangers squad.

He and Glenn Maxwell replace Mark Cleary and Will Sheridan.

Young pace bowler James Pattinson, who was 13th man against the Bulls, is a likely starter after recovering from a back injury that kept him sidelined for more than a month.

The 24-year-old said the mood amongst the Bushrangers remains upbeat despite their indifferent form in the Sheffield Shield where they've failed to take a point from their past three matches.

"We're still a confident group," he said.

Smarting from three successive Sheffield Shield defeats, the Bushrangers were given a shot a top spot when the Redbacks rolled the previously unbeaten Tasmania in Hobart on Wednesday night.

Opening batsman Aaron Finch, who plays Premier Cricket for Geelong, will feel more at home than most.

"It's a big game for us. We haven't played our best cricket throughout the year, but I think the team is starting to come together," Finch said."We've got the experience of (Brad) Hodge, (David) Hussey and Cameron White in there, so I think we can put in a good game."

While Finch is the local boy, all eyes will be on Hodge, who is in search of a fourth one-day century this season.

VICTORIA: (squad of 13) Cameron White (c), Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Shane Harwood, Michael Hill, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Clint McKay, Glenn Maxwell, Dirk Nannes, James Pattinson, Rob Quiney, Matthew Wade.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA: (squad of 13) Michael Klinger (c), Aiden Blizzard, Cameron Borgas, Daniel Christian, Tom Cooper, Chris Duval, Ben Edmondson, Callum Ferguson, Peter George, Daniel Harris, Tim Lang, Graham Manou, Aaron O'Brien.

James Pattinson ruled out and John Hastings win ODI call-up for India tour

Cricket Australia medical staff have confirmed Victorian fast bowler James Pattinson has been ruled out of Australia’s ODI squad for the VB Tour of India after confirmation he has developed the early stages of a low back bone stress injury.

The National Selection Panel (NSP) announced Victorian bowling all-rounder John Hastings will replace his Bushrangers teammate in the one-day squad.

Australian team physiotherapist Kevin Sims said:


“It is disappointing for James Pattinson to suffer an injury at this stage however it does present a great opportunity for John to show his potential at international level prior to selection for the 2010-11 ICC Cricket World Cup on the sub-continent.”

Victorian all-rounder John Hastings says his call-up to the Australian ODI squad for the tour of India is a bitter-sweet feeling.

Hastings said he was thrilled to have been picked, but was also disappointed it came in place of Victorian team-mate and good friend James Pattinson.

Pattinson was ruled out of the series with a lower back injury, which Hastings said took the gloss off his own good news.


"It's every boy's dream to represent your country and play for Australia, so if I get the opportunity to do that I'll be making every post a winner."

The 24-year-old took 65 wickets in all forms of the game last year, including 19 at an average of 29.74 in the domestic one-day competition last year to put him on the national team's radar.

ROOKIE speedsters Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson vie to net a debut Australia's optional training session at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium yesterday.

The cause of all the commotion? Doug Bollinger is likely to be wiped out of the second Test by injury and so one of the greenhorns might be receiving a Test debut from Saturday.

George is favourite to get his hands on a baggy green if Bollinger, diagnosed with an abdominal tear, is ruled out.

The 203cm George, who will be 24 on October 16, is the favourite to get his baggy green if Bollinger, diagnosed with an abdominal tear, does not play.

Starc and Pattinson, who only earned their places on the tour when Josh Hazlewood came down with a back injury, are breathing down his neck. The other option is to play leg-spinning allrounder Steve Smith.

"The intensity of the net sessions is obviously is as close as you could get to a match situation. Pattinson reminds me of a (Peter) Siddle - he's like a Siddle clone, really. He just wants to charge in all day and he can swing the ball.

"Starc can swing the ball, too. He has the variety of a left-hander, which also creates rough for Nathan Hauritz to work with. Peter George has so much height. He's got a lot of bounce.

"We'll probably have to go with a bit of a gut feel. Ricky will probably have to be guided by the selectors because I'm sure he hasn't seen a lot of those guys.

"We're still hopeful Dougie might come up but it would be a big gamble."

We play so much cricket these days that keeping your body and especially your mind in good shape is pretty hard to do," Ponting said.

Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson to be rested ahead of Ashes

Australian captain Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson will all be rested from the three one day matches that follow the current Test series against India.

The duo are arguably Australia's three most valuable players, and they will fly home following the conclusion of the second Test against India at Bangalore in order to freshen up ahead of the Ashes series at home. 

This will also give them maximum time to get used to home conditions again after the jolt of Indian climes. 

"The NSP has decided as part of the ongoing management of Ricky's workload he should not take part in this series. The demands of back-to-back Test matches in tough Indian conditions have been taken into consideration,'' said chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch. 

Queensland's James Hopes and New South Wales' Steve Smith will vie for the allrounder's spot, and big-hitting opening batsman David Warner makes a return to the one-day squad. 

The three-ODI series is from October 17-24.

Squad: 

Michael Clarke (capt), 

Cameron White 

Doug Bollinger 

Callum Ferguson 

Nathan Hauritz 

James Hopes 

Mike Hussey 

Shaun Marsh 

Clint McKay

Tim Paine (wk) 

James Pattinson

Steve Smith 

Mitchell Starc 

David Warner