The Aussie KP quietly moving into spotlight

While a clinical Steve Smith century stole the headlines, there was another tale being played out in concert with the Australia captain on day one of the Sheffield Shield clash at the Gabba.

Kurtis Patterson has spent the past 12 months quietly building an impressive resume, and the very beginning of the first-class summer, with Smith watching on from 22 yards and national selectors Darren Lehmann and Trevor Hohns in the stands, was the perfect opportunity to make a few people sit up and take notice.

He's only 23 but Patterson debuted for the Blues in Shield cricket five summers ago, becoming the youngest centurion in the competition's history with a stunning 157 as an 18-year-old.

Quick Single: How Aussie Test hopefuls fared in Shield

That spectacular entry – he smashed his last 55 runs from 25 balls – was contrary to the way he generally goes about his game, and the years since have been more in keeping with his unassuming, patient manner.

"After that debut there was a tough 12 to 18 months just learning what it was like to be a professional cricketer at these sort of grounds around the country," Patterson said after his superb 111.

"It's quite tough work, especially for a young batter, so that was a big learning curve, as it still is now."

Tuesday's exhibition was particularly impressive as he matched Smith run for run during their double-century stand, beating his captain to three figures as the pair controlled the tempo of the afternoon.

The classy left-hander doesn't have Smith's range of strokes – few do – but he knows to stick to his strengths and he did so capably, peppering the cover region with a number of elegant drives and pulling the Bulls pacemen with real authority through midwicket.

None of this will have come as much of a surprise to those who saw Patterson last summer; a tightened technique and an apparent increase in confidence resulted in a pair of Shield hundreds, four fifties and sixth spot on the competition's run-scorers list with 737 at 52.64.

Those numbers were enough to earn the tall No.4 selection for Australia A, for whom he played throughout the Winter Series in Queensland, making scores of 74, 6, 92, 50no and 25 in first-class matches against India A and South Africa A, as well as a century in the one-day tournament in between.

Yesterday's effort was a fifth first-class hundred, and aside from a bottom-edged pull shot that narrowly missed his stumps, it was a mistake-free performance from a young man who looks very much to have worked out his game.

"To be honest, it's just more belief coming off the back-end of last year," he said with regards to the manner in which his batting has gone to new heights.

"I certainly feel like I'm good enough to play at this level and I think that's half the battle.

"As well as that I think I've improved my game in terms of my selection of shots, compared to where I was 18 months ago.

"It's also just been about making sure I give myself a chance early on, and understanding that it will get easier, so backing my technique to get through those tough periods and then cashing in later on."

Patterson's average is now a rock-solid 42.91 – a figure that pales in comparison to Smith's national benchmark of 56.36 but is just about the equal of anyone outside the skipper, his deputy David Warner and Adam Voges around the country.

In fact, a quick look at those on the Test fringes ahead of next week's series opener against South Africa underscores just how notable it is; Patterson boasts a better average than Usman Khawaja (41.87), Glenn Maxwell (41.03), Shaun Marsh (40.38), Joe Burns (39.59), Peter Handscomb (38.79), Cameron Bancroft (38.15), Nic Maddinson (37.61) and Travis Head (32.87).

It's been a good week for the Blues' young gun, after his unbeaten 77 to steer his team home in Sunday's Matador One-Day Cup final capped off a fine campaign and gave another indication he is playing with a maturity beyond his years.

Shortly before that innings, former Australia 'keeper Brad Haddin mentioned him as a future Test player but beyond that, it's the aforementioned names that continue to be raised in relation to Baggy Green.

"My main objective is to score as many runs as I can for New South Wales," Patterson straight-batted when told of those comments.

"There's still a few blokes ahead of me for future Test stuff, but it was very nice of Hadds and it's great to know he's got confidence in me.

"But for me at the moment it's about scoring runs for New South Wales and trying to help us win games of cricket."

If he maintains his current form into the height of this new summer, Haddin won't be the only one pushing the case of Kurtis Patterson.