New Delhi. It is about the year 2019. Australia's cricket team was going through a crisis in those days. In this crisis, he remembered a batsman who had not played a single test match till then. Australia called him for the Test series against Sri Lanka. The batsman also did not disappoint and scored runs at an average of 144.00 in the series. But despite this excellent performance, Kurtis Patterson was forgotten. The 31 year old cricketer is still waiting for his call from the Australian team.
Kurtis Patterson has played only two matches in his Test career. He scored 30 runs in his first Test match played against Sri Lanka in Brisbane. After this, a week later, he played an inning of 114 runs in the second test match and was not out till the end. In this way, Kurtis Patterson scored 144 runs in two innings of two matches at an average of 144. This is the highest average of any batsman in Test history. However, Patterson did not get the respect for this performance that he deserved. Australia did not include Patterson in its team for the next series (Ashes). Since then he has been waiting to return to the team.
Don Bradman has been the standard of batting in Test cricket for almost 100 years. Bradman scored 6996 runs in 52 Test matches between 1928 and 1948 at an average of 99.94. This is the world record for the highest average (minimum 10 matches) in Test history. But if we remove the condition of minimum matches then Kurtis Patterson surpasses Don Bradman in terms of average. Even Bradman is not at second place. Albert Edwin Trott (102.50) is at second place in this matter. Bradman's number comes only after Patterson and Trott.
After these records, a question may arise in the minds of cricket lovers whether Kurtis Patterson can return in the series between India and Australia. It is difficult to answer this in yes or no. But it can be said that its possibility is negligible. There are two reasons for this. First- Australia's batting order is largely fixed at the moment and Patterson does not see any role in it. The second reason is Patterson's poor form. Patterson has played two first-class matches in October, in which his innings have been 13, 4, and 10 respectively.
Tags: Australia Cricket Team, Don bradman, Number Game
FIRST PUBLISHED : October 16, 2024, 4:36 PM IST
