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Three months on from his much-debated call-up to the England Test team, Australia-raised paceman Darren Pattinson has admitted he would not have selected himself.

Describing himself as a "leftfield selection" Pattinson's inclusion for the second Test against South Africa in July caused a stir amongst English cricket followers.

The Victorian was selected ahead of the likes of 2005 Ashes winners Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard - the latter of whom first made his name at Headingley with his home county Yorkshire.

Pattinson was by his own admission not ready for the call-up, having made just 11 first-class appearances for Victoria and Nottinghamshire, and after claiming just two wickets in the 10-wicket defeat has not been featured in any subsequent England squads.

"I probably didn't agree with the selection, as it was," Pattinson told The Age newspaper in his home town of Melbourne.

"I don't think I'd be picking someone to play the one Test when they haven't really played that many first-class games and weren't in the squad.

"It was a left-field selection. If I was in (the selectors') situation, I wouldn't have picked me to play for England when there were guys like Steve Harmison - who I know has had his problems - waiting in the wings and ready to go. It's really an astonishing story, when you think about it."

In the wake of the defeat then England captain Michael Vaughan described Pattinson's selection as "confused" - a statement the player himself does not refute.

But, the 29-year-old found himself at the centre of a media storm as the English press tried to fathom how a player, who by his own admission had only signed with Nottinghamshire to "earn a bit of extra cash", had been selected to the national team.

Pattinson came in for much criticism himself and the player, who finished the county season with a more than respectable 49 wickets at 25.61, admits he would be happy never to play international cricket again.

"The whole England thing was unexpected and I was certainly more than happy to get the opportunity to play international cricket," he said.

"During the game I didn't really know anything that was going on away from the ground, but I would get back to the hotel and speak to my wife and she would talk about some of the things she saw on the internet.

"I was just trying to take wickets and get on with it but - and you know what the British press can be like - it was tough for my wife.

"To be honest, it didn't really bother me all that much. I tried not to read too much while the game was on, but it got to her a bit."

He added: "I hadn't predicted any of it. I was just coming over to play county cricket as another way of earning a bit of extra cash.

"But with all the stuff that came with it, it's hard to say just how I view the whole experience right now. I'm sure I'll look back in a few years and be happy I played a Test, but there are a few mixed feelings at the moment.

"If I never played another international, I'd be okay with that."

Sporting Life / Eurosport