The legendary bowler’s decision however, a huge one, did not come as a surprise. With him struggling to keep up motivation during the winter months, and nursing his multiple knee issues and injuries, it was almost inevitable for him to retire a bit earlier than expected.
With 81 wickets in his career, James showed his destructive ability to everyone. At home, he had even better records with 49 wickets in just 11 matches.
Former team mate and current coach, Chris Rogers said, “He’s been through so much in his career, he has played through pain a lot of the time and that wears you down. You get a little bit older and your motivation starts to change. He’ll be thinking about his family and life after cricket. We’ve known each other for a little while. We’ve observed him closely over this pre-season. When you have a caged lion in the depths of winter in the indoor center trying to get motivated you can sense something is a little bit amiss. We probably felt there were a few question marks about what he would do and he’s made the decision.”
Rogers played three Tests alongside Pattinson, continued, “He had so much energy. Sometimes, he found it hard to control the ball but other times, when he did it was epic to watch.”
