Pattinson set for county deal: reports

Victoria quick James Pattinson is reportedly set to join Nottinghamshire for a stint in the County Championship in the upcoming season.

Pattinson, who has played three Sheffield Shield games since returning from long term back and shin injuries, has several links to the Trent Bridge based club; his brother Darren won the County Championship there in 2010, while state and national teammates David Hussey, Peter Siddle and Jackson Bird have all spent time at the club.

Should he turn out in the competition, it would give him a golden opportunity to face off against some of Australia’s upcoming Ashes rivals ahead of the five-Test series against England next summer.

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Pattinson was overlooked for the ongoing Qantas tour of India with selectors instead opting for Pat Cummins, despite the former having played three Shield matches since returning from injury as opposed to Cummins’ one.

But the 26-year-old has made no secret of his desire to return to the Baggy Green later in 2017 and a stint in county cricket would prime him for an Ashes comeback, with News Ltd reporting Pattinson is poised to sign on with Nottinghamshire for both red and white-ball cricket as an injury replacement for Siddle.

Pattinson, who returned to Sheffield Shield cricket in February and last week, powered the Bushrangers into the final with a five-wicket second-innings haul in Alice Springs.

Ahead of his Shield comeback, Pattinson said getting matches under his belt would be crucial to a Test return.

"It's a hard job. I'm getting to that age where I just need to play cricket,” Pattinson said in Melbourne last month.

"I'm hoping I can play all these Shield games (for the rest of the season) and can get a lot of cricket under my belt.

"I'm 26 so I just need to play cricket now and get that hardening into my body. Over the last three years I haven't had that.

"I'm a big believer in the more you bowl, the more accustomed your body becomes to bowling.”,

Meanwhile, Siddle – who broke down during the Perth Test last November - is confident he will be able recover from a stubborn back injury in time to play a part in the 2017-18 summer of cricket, with the Ashes also at the top of his wish list.

"I've been pretty positive," Siddle told cricket.com.au last week.

"I'm good like that, nothing really gets to me. I guess the years of playing cricket, you always have little setbacks with injury and missing cricket at different stages. It makes it a little bit easier to take in when you get older.

"So I've been able to stay pretty level.

"It's not so much the fact that I'm missing out on my teams winning (that's frustrating), it's the fact that I'm not playing.

"I don't think I've played this little cricket in an 18-month window since I was an 11-year-old kid and was just starting out.

"That's the most frustrating thing, not playing the game that you love and your profession.

"But mentally I'm pretty good. I'm in a good place and I've got some good people around me who give me good support."