Patel plea for recall

SAMIT PATEL has insisted he is ready to resume his Test career — and has targeted next month’s series against West Indies for a comeback. With Liam Dawson struggling to justify his tag as England’s No 1 slow bowler, Patel — who bowls useful left-arm spin — believes his batting form with Nottinghamshire would make him a good option for the middle order. Scores of 257 not out and 247 against Gloucestershire and Leicestershire last month have convinced him that he can add to his six Test caps, all gained in Asia between 2012 and 2015. ‘It’s very frustrating,’ said Patel (above). ‘I’d played all my cricket in England, so you can’t just get pigeon-holed as a subcontinental cricketer. One of my biggest regrets is that I’ve not played Test cricket in front of my home crowd. ‘I thrive off big crowds, and I’d like that opportunity. If there are not people scoring the runs in Test cricket and they want to find a change, I’m well up for that. I’m a more mature batsman now. It’s been a change of mindset: batting long, not giving it away, getting greedy.’ The 32-year-old Patel is averaging 81 with the bat in Division Two of the County Championship, and also averaged 67 during Notts’ successful Royal London Cup campaign.