James Pattinson set for spinal surgery
Wednesday 1 November 2017 10:19, UK
Australia bowler James Pattinson is set to have spinal surgery in a last-ditch effort to fix a recurring problem.
The 27-year-old has been unlucky with injuries and will miss the upcoming Ashes series against England due to the lower back stress fracture which kept him out of the recent tour to Bangladesh.
Cricket Australia's sports science chief Alex Kountouris says they are talking with several New Zealand specialists, including one who helped save paceman Shane Bond's career.
"He's got four stress fractures that haven't healed since his teenage years," Kountouris told The Australian newspaper.
"What he's doing is getting bone stress on the healthy part of the bone. And that one part of the bone keeps breaking."
CA medical staff have yet to sign off on spinal surgery as the best option for Pattinson.
But Kountouris added: "It doesn't sound like there's a lot to lose.
"There's obviously some complications that could possibly happen, there's concerns with any sort of surgery, but that's probably the way we're going to go."
Injuries have limited Pattinson to 17 Tests since his 2011 debut and he has not played since July 1, when he played for Nottinghamshire against Surrey in the Royal London Cup final at Lord's.
