My Bears have to develop that winning culture says Jeetan
HE’S won pretty much every piece of silverware going in English cricket, so you could forgive 37-year-old spin-king Jeetan Patel for wanting to wind down into retirement.
But heading out to pasture is not even on the Kiwi’s radar just yet – instead, he’s just taken the reins as skipper at Warwickshire, and is relishing a fresh challenge.
The Bears’ two County Championship captains last term, seasoned campaigners in Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott, suffered tempestuous seasons with the side relegated from Division One to compound their personal loss of form.
But Patel, who helped Warwickshire to County Championship glory in 2012, claimed the T20 Blast title in 2014, and lifted the One-Day Cup in 2016, insists the captaincy is no poisoned chalice.
“I’m pretty fizzed up about it,” he said. “We’ve come from some really great days to some really dark days recently, and it’s a side that deserves some excitement about where they are going to go.
“A club like Warwickshire needs great leadership and, hopefully, I can provide that. We asked the questions about how it would affect me as a key contributor to the squad, but I owe the club a lot – they’ve been fantastic to me – and there are a number of reasons I want to do this.
“It’s a role that needs to be wanted as opposed to given, and it’s time for me to do something for Warwickshire. It’s not going to be easy, it’s a big challenge.
“But I’m excited by that as I’m at a time in my career where I need to be challenged, and challenging the guys below me as well.
“One trophy that I haven’t gotten is the Division Two trophy, so it would be nice to win that and complete the set! But there’s no guarantees; Warwickshire can’t just rock up and expect to win.”
Patel is currently back home in his native New Zealand playing for Wellington, but he’s already licking his lips at the prospect of helping Warwickshire get “back to where they belong” in Division One.
A big part of that will be helping the likes of Trott and Bell rediscover the sort of form that made them mainstays at international level, as well as encouraging Sam Hain to fulfil his massive potential.
But Patel is also desperate to bring through the youth at Edgbaston, and he’s adamant the likes of Josh Poysden and Sunny Singh – both fellow spinners – won’t see their path to 1st XI cricket blocked off.
He said: “Form is form, and we know class is permanent. We know Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott are top drawer and it’s only a matter of time before they score hundreds of runs again.
“We’ve gone through a tough time but as long as we trust in our skills we’re not far away.
“The key for us will be learning to look defeat in the eye and think, ‘ok, we can still win this game’. We were in some tough spots last year and bowed down rather than stood up.
“Josh Poysden is someone who has a huge role to play at the club; we are going to play on wickets that will spin and will often play more than just the one spinner – it could be as many as three.
“Winning games and developing people are really important things; to do that people need to be playing games of cricket.”
A huge part of the Bears’ youth initiative will now also revolve around Dom Sibley. The 22-yearold only joined from Surrey midway through last season, but made a big impression – with 191 runs in seven T20 games and 310 in six County Championship appearances – and has been named Patel’s deputy.
“Dom has aspirations to play for England, and that’s what we’re here for,” added Patel.
“We need to provide players to play for England and Warwickshire have struggled in that department recently.
“We have guys here now that want to go to the next level and are driven to do that – part of that is learning in a leadership role where responsibility is given, and that’s what we’re doing with Dom.
“It’s just a title at the end of the day and we want everyone to be a leader – Dom has been labelled vice-captain but that doesn’t mean he’s any more of a leader than a Chris Wright or a Keith Barker.
“But it’s an opportunity for him to really express his views and for his voice to be heard.”