Lack of fitness spells trouble for Patel
It is little wonder that events in Lahore have overshadowed any talk of cricket, and rightly so. However, I am somewhat tired of thinking about terrorism and all it entails, so I have decided to focus on cricket. The cricketing story of interest today (at least to me) is that Samit Patel has been removed from England’s one-day squad due to poor levels of fitness.
Patel had made an instant impact upon the team at the end of last summer, somewhat surprisingly with the ball as he took 5-41 against South Africa at The Oval. In 1st class cricket, he averages a shade under 50 at the time of writing, and would seem on paper to be one of the brightest prospects in England.
What is remarkable about this story, however, is that Patel is currently on tour with England Lions in New Zealand, so it could hardly be said that he has been left to his own devices. He was then to join up with the one-day squad for the 20 and 50 over matches against West Indies.
Hugh Morris, in a statement, said:
It is extremely frustrating that Samit has not heeded the warnings of his county, Nottinghamshire, and Geoff Miller [national selector] as well as the England management and strength and conditioning team. In thecircumstances we had no option but to de select him from the tour
It is perhaps indicative of the problems that cricket faces in England when one of the most promising young players, having recently broken into the team, lets themselves down by neglecting something as fundamental as fitness. Hopefully this will act as a wakeup call, but the management have taken the right decision in adopting the hard-line.
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