Pattinson's old action has opposite reaction

In a candid insight as to the competitive tensions that exist between a player's need to perform and their fight to stay fit, James Pattinson has revealed he ditched the bowling action remodelled in the wake of his latest severe back injury mid-Test because it robbed him of pace and control.

Pattinson returned to Test cricket in Hobart after almost two years away from the game having suffered stress fractures in his back during the final match of the unofficial 'world champion' series decider against South Africa at Cape Town in March last year.

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Which was also his first Test since succumbing to the same injury problem during the 2013 Ashes campaign in the UK.

As a consequence, the 25-year-old worked closely with sports scientists to alter his bowling action, allowing him to operate from a more 'side-on' release point and thereby ease the stress on his troublesome back.

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But since returning to international cricket on the Australia A tour to India earlier this year, Pattinson found that the new action had a negative impact on his capacity to reach his optimum bowling speed of around 150kph and also his ability to bowl his main wicket-taking weapon – the outswinger to a right-hander.

So having struggled for pace and rhythm in his latest return to Test cricket against the West Indies in Hobart and after emerging wicketless from the first innings despite Australia dominating with the ball, Pattinson took matters into his own hands.

"It was frustrating because I had changed my action and I didn't feel completely comfortable with it," Pattinson said today as Australia basked in the contentment of their victory by an innings and 212 runs achieved in barely two-and-a-half days.

"So in the second innings here (in Hobart) I just went 'stuff it really, I'm just going to go out and try and bowl like I used to bowl' and just run in and bowl fast.

"I thought if I bowl like I did in the first innings I probably won't be getting too many more games, so (I had) better change something."

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After day two of the Hobart Test when he left the field with figures of 0-68 from 15 overs against his name, Pattinson sat down and studied footage of his afternoon's work and identified some areas he wanted to change.

In his own words, the path his bowling arm was travelling in delivery stride started too far away from his body which meant he was losing arm speed as well as wrist position.

Which, in turn, meant he was unable to find the outswing that had made him such a threat from the time he burst on to the Test scene with a man-of-the-match performance in his debut Test against New Zealand in Brisbane four years ago.

He then discussed those issues with Australia fast-bowling coach Craig McDermott prior to the Test resuming yesterday, and received the imprimatur to adopt elements of his previous bowling action – albeit one that comes with its inbuilt injury risk – in the West Indies second innings.

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That input, coupled with the advice of skipper Steve Smith who revealed yesterday he had told Pattinson on Saturday morning to simply go out there and have fun by bowling fast, saw him destroy the West Indies top order with second innings figures of 5-27 which was a marked contrast to his first innings effort.

"I just ran in and wanted to bowl fast like I did when I first came on the scene," Pattinson said today.

"It's hard because when you run in and bowl you don't want to be thinking about your action.

"I've made the change to try and stop injuries but now that I'm back in the team and I'm a bit older, hopefully my body will hold up and I can go back a little bit to where I was when I first started playing.

"Because that's when I think I'm bowling my best."

Pattinson is aware that the new action, that saw him sustain a hamstring injury when he first returned to top-level cricket last summer as it placed stresses on different parts of his body, was tailor-made to help prevent future back problems.

But in finding a compromise between the old method that had brought him success and the new way that was to deliver him longevity, he believes he has found the best solution to keep him on top of his game as well as on the park.

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Pattinson said the fact that he is now older and stronger should help him avoid the back problems that plague so many up-and-coming fast bowlers, even though he still has small stress fractures in his back that are yet to heal.

But do not impact on his fitness or his pace, with the latter being the element that suffered in part when he adopted the new bowling action a year ago.

"It was more that I was really struggling to get it through to the 'keeper, and bowl that good channel and get that good outswing with my wrist behind the ball," he said.

"That was the trouble.

"It felt like I was trying extremely hard to do that, whereas the second innings (yesterday) when I came out I was running straight lines and had my wrist behind the ball, it felt pretty easy.

"I was speaking to Craig McDermott after the first (innings) about where I was releasing the ball from and my action, and I said 'I haven't really been feeling that comfortable with it over the last six months'.

"And he said 'just run in and don't worry about it', and I did that.

"I'm a bit older now and hopefully my body will be right and I'm sort of somewhere in between (with his action)."