Quicks stay solid through injuries

James Pattinson says the camaraderie between Australia’s young fast bowlers has helped him bounce back from a string of injures that have plagued his international career.

Since breaking down during the second Ashes Test at Lord’s in 2013, Pattinson has spent the majority of the past two years on the sidelines due to back and hamstring injuries.

In that time the Victorian has played only one Test and two one-day internationals as each return was tarnished with a new injury setback.

But Pattinson hasn’t done it alone. Debuting the Baggy Green two weeks before Pattinson in November 2011 was NSW speedster Pat Cummins, who has also felt the wrath of injury in his young career.

Cummins was only 18 when he stunned South Africa, and world cricket, in his maiden Test in Johannesburg, but like Pattinson, a brace of stress fractures as well as back and foot problems have seen him unable to add to his sole Test.

Watch: Cummins takes four at Lord's (restrictions apply)

Both men have changed their bowling action in order to withstand the seismic forces of fast bowling in what’s been a slow and arduous recovery where time is often the best and unavoidable cure.

Now, after all the hard work off the field the pair are beginning to reap the rewards on it, starting on Tuesday with the duos first match together since the two-match T20 international series that preceded their Test debut in October 2011.

"Me and Pat are really close which is great, because we’ve been through the same sort of thing," Pattinson said.

"He’s a little bit younger than me but we’re really close and we help each other a lot.

"It’s just good to see how we both go about it, share ideas and then help each other out.

"The good thing is when you look at someone like Mitchell Johnson who debuted at my age at 25 and he’s had a great career.

"I think the thing is you can get caught up in wanting everything to happen in the now and I suppose as a fast bowler you’ve got to look to the future a bit and know that most fast bowlers do go until they’re 35 and for me that’s 10 years away.

"I’ve just got to hopefully build everything up and get really consistent and build up a really solid foundation which I’ve done in the gym over the last couple of years.

"Hopefully it allows me to play a lot of cricket now.

"While Tuesday’s 93-run loss to England at Manchester saw Pattinson and Cummins in the green and gold together for the first time in almost four years, it was the first occasion the pair had played with the world’s No.1 ODI bowler Mitchell Starc.

Starc has also battled the compulsory injuries that comes with fast bowling, and Pattinson says the trio are there for one another when times get tough.

Watch: Starc responds in style (restrictions apply)

"The good thing about this group is there are a lot of young fast bowlers," Pattinson said.

"I think it was the first time me and Mitch (Starc) and Pat (Cummins) had played together and we’ve all been through a lot of injuries, so it’s been great to hear from each other when things aren’t going great.

"If the other person is playing there’s always texts to see how everyone is going and making sure everyone is fine which is great, and hopefully now we’re hitting that mid-20 mark hopefully now we can try and play some real consistent cricket together and really work on our games together.

"That’s the thing – it’s hard to learn and improve your game when you’re not playing.

"And that’s the big thing for me now is to try and get better by playing games and being in those situations because when you’re in the gym you’re not really improving your bowling you’re improving your body.

"But when you’re playing in a game you’re getting that experience and being put under pressure in games."

The tearaway trio are expected to line up for their second match together in the fourth ODI against England at Leeds.