LONDON: Samit Patel said being overlooked by England ‘hurt’ after doing his best to jog the collective memory of the selectors by starring for Nottinghamshire as they won the domestic Twenty20 Blast title on Saturday.
Patel, whose last England involvement came during the tour of South Africa nearly two years ago, hit an unbeaten 64 as Nottinghamshire beat Warwickshire by 22 runs in the final at Edgbaston on Saturday.
Patel’s innings was timely given he walked out to bat with Nottinghamshire struggling at 30 for three.
But Patel’s 42-ball knock helped turned the tide as he and ex-Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor (65) shared a 132-run partnership.
Earlier in the day, spin bowler Patel had claimed the key wicket of Pakistan star Shahid Afridi for a first-ball duck in the semi-final win over Hampshire, the side who were the one to complete a double in 2012.
Patel, often overlooked by England for reasons of fitness more than anything else, feels hard done by being restricted to six Tests, 36 One-day Internationals and 18 Twenty20 Internationals since making his first England appearance in 2008.
But having now helped Nottinghamshire to a domestic one-day double — they beat Surrey in the 50-over Cup final at Lord’s earlier this season — the 32-year-old Patel said he was still available for England selection.
“I’d be disappointed if they [the England selectors] didn’t watch that. Playing for England is the utmost best for me. I love playing for England.
Every time I put on an England shirt I don’t think that I’ve let them down.
“You always put yourself out there. You’ve got to be the right man to do it on the day and luckily enough for me it was. I think class will always show regardless of what the situation is.”
He added being overlooked by England in the limited-overs formats had been especially disappointing, particularly as, like many players before him, he felt he was now a much better cricketer than when he last represented his country.
“Yeah it has hurt, especially in the white-ball format,” he said. “I’m an ambitious player.
“You shouldn’t play for Notts if you don’t want to play for England in my opinion. Putting on that shirt, it means everything to me.
“Don’t even count me out of Test cricket to be honest. I think I know my game much better now. I’m ready and I know I’m ready if they ring me, that’s for sure. I’m a different player.
“They haven’t spoken to me since the South Africa trip that I went on and didn’t play. I have thought about picking up the phone but there’s only one winner there and it won’t go down well if I pick up the phone.”
Former England T20 International seamer Gurney was the hero for Nottinghamshire, as he took 4-17 from his four overs with a mix of slower balls and cutters as Warwickshire lost early wickets, and despite a brilliant 72 from young batsman Sam Hain, ultimately fell well short.
Hain put on 55 with big-hitting New Zealander Colin de Grandhomme, but Gurney dismissed them both to leave the lower order with too much to do.
Notts had been in big trouble when England seam bowler Chris Woakes reduced them to 30-3, taking the big wickets of his international team-mate Alex Hales, Riki Wessels and Tom Moores.
The unlucky bowler was Warwickshire paceman Oli Stone, who bowled four wicketless overs for 50 runs, having starred with 3-29 in the semi-final 11-run win over Glamorgan earlier in the day.
Nottinghamshire had seen off Hampshire by 23 runs in the second semi, with left-armer Gurney and Steven Mullaney both taking three wickets.
Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2017