James Pattinson announces his retirement from Test cricket ahead of home Ashes series

The Australian pacer James Pattinson has made a surprise statement ahead of the Ashes series. The Victoria quick decided to retire from Test cricket due to his fitness issues.

James Pattinson has represented Australia in 21 Tests, 15 ODI's and 5 T20I games and has taken 81, 16 and 3 wickets respectively. During an intrasquad trial match, the right-hand pacer suffered a knee injury which pushed him to retire from the long format of the game.

The 31-year-old has believed that he is not fit for the upcoming home Ashes series against England and decided to make the call before it gets too late.

According to recent reports from Cricket Australia, James Pattinson stated that "Leading into pre-season I really wanted to give the Ashes a crack but in the end, I haven't had the preparation I would have liked heading into the coming season."

"If I was to be part of the Ashes I would need to do myself and my teammate's justice. I didn't want to be in a position of battling with my body when you need to be 100 per cent fit and ready to go at any time. That would not be fair to myself or the team," he added.

"It was then I felt that instead of trying to play at the very highest level, knowing I have only got three or four years of cricket left, I would focus more on Victoria, helping the young guys develop, perhaps some cricket in England and spending more time with my family," Pattinson said.

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If Pattinson was fit enough to play, he would be added along with the pace trio Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins for the Ashes series.

However, he now wants to guide the Victoria youngsters and would also want to play the full edition of the upcoming Big Bash League for Melbourne Renegades.