The other Pattinson gets his chance

It's more than 100 years since two brothers played Test cricket for different countries. If James Pattinson progresses as the Australian selectors hope, he and his brother Darren might one day join the Trotts of Australia and England and the Hearnes of England and South Africa, who achieved the feat in the 1800s.

Darren was born in the UK and despite being raised in Australia, was famously plucked from county cricket for a Test against South Africa in 2008. When Darren was a boy, the family moved to Melbourne, where James was born.

The younger sibling has only an Australian passport, and will this month represent Australia A against Sri Lanka A in Queensland. James is 11 years younger than Darren and has always looked up to his big brother, but will let him know about it if he ever gets the call-up for Australia.

"He always gives me crap about playing Test cricket, so hopefully I can play Tests and get more than one Test in so I can give it back to him," James told Cricinfo. "But I think it's better to play for Australia than England, so I'll give him that one as well."

James turned 20 last month and is still a relative newcomer to state cricket, having played only 11 matches for Victoria across all formats. A fast bowler who can swing the ball at pace, he announced himself last December with 6 for 48 in a one-day game against New South Wales.

His selection for Australia A was originally for the one-day games only, but he was added to the four-day squad when Josh Hazlewood was called in to the ODI group to tour England. It will be another milestone in the promising career of James Pattinson, whose skills were honed in a backyard in Melbourne against a much older brother.

"He was pretty tough," James said of Darren. "He never used to take a backward step. He used to tape the tennis ball right up and try to hit me in the head, which he did a couple of times. It probably wasn't funny for me, but it was for him.

"He always used to smack me around a bit. I remember when he got a bit older and he had a girlfriend, I didn't really like that much. She was taking away from him playing cricket with me. We got out there most days when he'd get home from a hard day at work, I used to be on his back - 'let's play cricket'. I always used to get my way."

A decade later, the siblings found themselves in a Victorian team together. Having taken the now traditional path through under-age representative teams, it was no surprise that James eventually found his way into state cricket.

Things panned out quite differently for Darren, who worked as a roof tiler before an unexpected call-up for Victoria four years ago. Their father John was also a roof tiler, as was his dad before him, and James might well have followed in the family business had cricket not intervened.

"I used to be on the roof since I was about 14, trying to help Dad out," he said. "I probably would have ended up going in that direction if it wasn't for cricket. I probably would have continued the family tradition."

Instead, James will be doing all he can to impress the selectors when the Australia A series begins in Brisbane on Friday. He had his wisdom teeth out last week but will be fine to play. After all those years of copping a taped tennis ball to the head, what's a little bit more pain.