For the second time in less than 24 hours, a Victorian has been ruled out of Australia A's match against England Lions
Pattinson ruled out of MCG clash, Blues quick called up
A day after losing Will Pucovski as he recovers from concussion, Australia A have lost Test pacemen James Pattinson to injury for their upcoming clash against England Lions.
Pattinson has been ruled out with lower back and hip soreness. Pattinson reported the soreness after playing Premier Cricket last weekend for Dandenong.
With Pattinson ruled out, NSW quick Harry Conway has been called into the 12-man squad, with Queensland's Mark Steketee set to take the Victorian's place in the starting XI.
Pattinson, having battled several devastating back injuries since making his Test debut in 2011, made his Test return after more than three years in Australia's drawn Ashes series last year in England, where he picked up five wickets in two Tests.
He was made to wait on the sidelines this summer as Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood tore through Pakistan in the 2-0 Domain Test Series win.
But a hamstring injury to Hazlewood in the first Test against New Zealand in Perth opened the door for Pattinson, who played the final two Tests of the summer and collected six wickets at 22.17.
Steketee has taken 25 wickets at 21.64 this season for Queensland this Marsh Sheffield Shield season and is one of three Bulls in the bowling attack alongside fast bowler Michael Neser (26 wickets at 16.65) and leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson (13 at 28).
Conway comes into the Australia A squad playing perhaps the best cricket of his career, having captured 23 wickets at 16.30 for the ladder-leading Blues, including 10-56 against Queensland at the Gabba in October.
Conway is the second fresh face added to the 'A' squad after in-form Victoria batter Nic Maddinson was called in to replace Pucovski, who continues to recover from the freak concussion he suffered captaining Australia A in a 50-over match against the Lions on the Gold Coast earlier this month.
In six Shield matches this summer, Maddinson has amassed 648 runs at 92.57 with two centuries and a top score of 224.
In the past week, the left-hander put his former state NSW to the sword with 95 and 105no in Victoria's comprehensive win over the Blues to keep their slim Shield title hopes alive.
The four-day pink-ball Australia A-England Lions match at the MCG starts on Saturday.
Australia A Squad: Moises Henriques (c), Jackson Bird, Harry Conway, Marcus Harris, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja (vc), Nic Maddinson, Michael Neser, Kurtis Patterson, Mark Steketee, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson