Australia's James Pattinson has been handed a ban for the first Test against Pakistan for personal abuse on an opponent while playing for Victoria in a Sheffield Shield match.
Australia's James Pattinson has been handed a ban for the first Test against Pakistan for personal abuse on an opponent while playing for Victoria in a Sheffield Shield match.
The fast bowler was vying with Mitchell Starc for the third pace-bowling spot for the opening match in the two-Test series, which starts in Brisbane on Thursday.
According to Cricket Australia, the 29-year-old had already been found guilty of two breaches of the Code of Conduct over the last year. He was handed the ban when he admitted abusing a Queensland player during the domestic match last week.
"I made a mistake in the heat of the moment," Pattinson said in a Cricket Australia statement.
"Straight away I realised I was in the wrong, and I apologised immediately, both to the opponent and to the umpires.
"I have done the wrong thing and accept the penalty. I'm gutted to miss a Test match, but the standards are there for a reason and the fault is mine."
Cricket Australia also revealed that Pattinson would not be replaced in the squad for the two Tests against Pakistan. This means that Starc is likely to play alongside Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in Australia's pace attack for the match at the Gabba.
"(James) knows that he's let himself down, he's let the group down.
"We actually had a chat last night about how we hold ourselves to really high standards now with our behaviour.
"That's not just when we're playing (international) cricket, we've got to go back to domestic cricket and lead the way on that front as well.
"We're disappointed in that but James has owned up, knows he's made a mistake and apologised for it, and he'll come back bigger and better," Australia captain Tim Paine told ABC Radio on Sunday.
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