Is forgotten batsman a smokey to re-enter Test calculations after huge start to Shield season?

New South Wales batsman Kurtis Patterson is rising to the top of Australia’s First Class ranks just one year after being dropped from the state’s Sheffield Shield team.

After a slump with the bat last season, the 31-year-old has found top form again this summer averaging 105.4 in the Sheffield Shield so far with scores of 91, 66, 71, 99, 33 not out and 167 not out from six knocks.

While he’s been as far away from Test calculations as a First Class cricketer can be in the last 12 months, Patterson has represented his country in the game’s longest form before, averaging 144 from two Tests – which both came against Sri Lanka in 2019 as he was only dismissed once while making a top score of 114 not out.

News Corp chief cricket writer Ben Horne thinks that Patterson can potentially put himself to the front of the queue as the next batter into the Australian side if his Shield form continues into the back half of the season.

“Possibly (he could enter Test calculations),” Horne told SEN 1170 Afternoons.

“I mean, a lot depends on what happens in this series, if Australia can go on from here and beat India, then I can't really see too many changes.

“But for Kurtis, it just shows that like he's back on the scene, and if he can keep himself in that sort of form in the next half of the Shield season after the break and Big Bash, then he’s putting himself right there.

“There's five test matches away next year, two in Sri Lanka and three in the West Indies … then you've got the Ashes.”

While Patterson is in his 30s, Horne thinks that we might only now be seeing the best of the left-hander much like we did with Chris Rogers and Adam Voges who both flourished as international cricketers late in their careers.

“I really like what he's done,” Horne said.

“He's obviously an experienced player himself, so he's not exactly a young option to turn to.

“But as we've seen with Adam Voges, Chris Rogers and countless other players, having that experience and those trials and tribulations behind you … we often see the best of players later on.

“I think that's what we're seeing with Kurtis Patterson.”

Patterson is on the Sydney Sixers’ list for the upcoming BBL|14 season. NSW next play Shield cricket on February 8 when they meet Queensland at the Gabba.