He's been consistently making runs for a while now, but his big knock is that he hasn't been able to turn those scores into hundreds. It's not surprise that after scoring a couple of hundreds in his last few digs, including one against Sri Lanka that attention has turned to him. Especially when the cupboard is as bare as it is.
Exactly hes been on the radar for a while and should of been picked ahead of Maddinson back in 2016 after Hobart.
Solid average of 41 in his career, still only 25, saying he doesn't score enough centuries doesn't hold much weight when the guys being picked ahead of him aren't doing that either.
Out of the current test squad only Khawaja has a first class batting average higher than Patterson.
So what should of the selectors done? Not named the squad until after this tour match.
What should they do now? Add Patterson to the squad for the first test, acknowledging a mistake is better than doubling down.