hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
Head and shoulders above every other spinner in England.
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***Official*** New Zealand tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa 2016
- Thread starter Kippax
- Start date
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
Favourably. He dominates the one dayers too; he's pretty consistently been the best spinner in county cricket, bar other random overseas players for a season here or there.
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
I think it's wrong to characterise Patel as being jerked around during the later stages of his career. He was obviously only the 2nd best spin bowler while Vettori was around. He got his callup as the first choice in 2012 after Dan's test career effectively ended. IMO Hesson would've stuck with him even after the terrible SAF tour (he was selected to play for NZA leading into the 2013 England series), but then Jeets had to pull out of the running after his mum died and Bruce Martin grabbed his chance in Jeets' absence.
Sodhi got a contract ahead of him, and yeah that was a mistake. Patel really should've been called upon after Martin went to bits in 2013, but Hess and co decided to bank on youth. It worked with Anderson, so you can't say it was an entirely stupid policy, but yeah in retrospect picking Sodhi ahead of Jeets was a poor call.
But they had obviously recognised the mistake by the end of the season, and offered Patel another shot. Unfortunately he was at the stage in his career when he needed to focus on making as much money as possible, and so went with the safest option. Neither party is blameless, but I think it's wrong to focus on the team management as being primarily responsible.
It's a pity because I honestly think it probably cost us a series win in England. Don't think England would've had it nearly so easy on day 4 at Lords if Patel had been bowling instead of Craig.
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Zinzan
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That's quite interesting. Any other factors at play here like Warwickshire's home venue Edgbaston being particularly conducive to spin compared to other counties to explain how he's that far ahead statistically?
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
They've got a lefty who's great at landing his foot right on a good line and length for an off-spin bowler.
Howsie
International Captain
If only someone from the NZ squad thought this, I've been done with our tail for years. But costing Williamson a 100 on what looked like a slam dunk 100 in South Africa, **** off ****s.
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
Admittedly, conditions have been pretty favourable for him - moreso since the Bears have realised how much of a weapon he is, I believe. I also think county cricket is pretty amenable to accurate spin bowlers.
Which kinda is a sad indictment of England's stocks, really.
Hurricane
Hall of Fame Member
This is a minor point
I have been mulling on Rabada beating Nicholls purely for pace. And Stephen's suggestion that we play an express bowler.
Part of the reason for playing Bracewell is his batting. He averages 25 in First Class cricket.
Adam Milne would probably be equally as effective as Doug at taking wickets (but less effective at run control) but if batting is factor for the 4th seamer's spot then note Adam averages 28 with the bat.
And actually thinking about his batting I reckon his batting style is better suited to test cricket than Doug's.
I have been mulling on Rabada beating Nicholls purely for pace. And Stephen's suggestion that we play an express bowler.
Part of the reason for playing Bracewell is his batting. He averages 25 in First Class cricket.
Adam Milne would probably be equally as effective as Doug at taking wickets (but less effective at run control) but if batting is factor for the 4th seamer's spot then note Adam averages 28 with the bat.
And actually thinking about his batting I reckon his batting style is better suited to test cricket than Doug's.
StephenZA
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I was surprised to find NZ not playing Adam Milne... much better long term prospect. And genuine pace (ideally controlled) is always a threat regardless of the deck, will need that in India. Reading here, you seem to have a genuine spin option in Patel. Need to try get him into the squad if possible and willing.
StephenZA
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I`m interested to see how SA bat this morning... think it would be nice to get to 420+ (not that it should be needed) but more importantly keep NZ on the park for and hour an a half... tire them out a bit more then give then a short session to survive before lunch.
Flem274*
123/5
Yeah Milne has the talent to be a good fast bowling allrounder down the order.
Have Boult and Southee decided to come to the party now the game is done? Great.
Par score on this in the first few days was about 250. NZ were ****. South Africa were awesome.
Have Boult and Southee decided to come to the party now the game is done? Great.
No way. No team that spends a third of the over on the pads is unlucky. They were **** in the first innings. Every time they beat the bat, forced a streaky shot or caught the edge they followed it up with a pie or two. Close LBW shouts, edges, plays and misses - these happen in every innings, even the big 500 ones on roads. Good bowling is producing the highlights reel without the freebies.
Par score on this in the first few days was about 250. NZ were ****. South Africa were awesome.
It's completely ridiculous considering he got like 20 tests and has the bowling average of an ATG batsman.
Patel is miles better than any NZ spinner. The idea a joke like Sodhi is getting Test matches, even in Zimbabwe, ahead of him is hilarious. I'm not complaining as he is the best overseas player year on year in county cricket and has improved massively over the last 3 years. I can understand going Santner ahead of him as they are picking him because he can bat a bit but Sodhi and Craig? Hilarious.
Yeah but if you had your ear to the ground at the time - and you did, because you posted on here regularly and are a learned NZ cricket fan - there was no great uproar about the fact Jeetan Patel continued to not get central contracts. The general view was that we'd seen more than enough of him on the international stage and that he was offering nothing of particular importance going forward. So it was contract a guy who averages 40 in Test cricket or invest in what the future could be. Wasn't a particular hard choice. Mathew Sinclair continued to be the best domestic batsman in the country years after he was overlooked and we had no issue in it. At some stage you say 'hey, you're probably not good enough' and you try to find the next great hope.
Jeetan had the choice to commit to international cricket and chose not to. I don't begrudge him doing so and I have no problem with Hesson's choice at the time. The fact that Jeets is an absolute demon in county cricket...who's to say that transfers into the international arena? Maybe he's just found his niche in Warwickshire? I dunno, I've never seen him bowl a spell in county cricket. But good luck to him.
Flem274*
123/5
yeah you're grasping now.Mark Craig in Brisbane