Cricket: Spin doctor looks for a Black Caps cure

Dipak Patel. Phil Walter / Getty Images

It was a common complaint among the spin bowlers union, of which Dipak Patel is a fully paid up member, that there had been so much time and money invested in searching for the next Sir Richard Hadlee that all other disciplines had been neglected.

"I thought rather than sit there and keep complaining, I'd do something about it," Patel said.

So he put together some thoughts, found a sympathetic ear in the academy high performance centre coach Gary Stead - himself once a promising leg spinner before concentrating on his batting - and drafted a proposal.

Patel was rewarded with a $50,000 Prime Minister's high performance coaching scholarship. His proposal will see him visit spin bowling academies in Australia, England, Pakistan and India to glean ideas and observe strategies.

At the top of Patel's wishlist is for the systems he sets in place to provide a wrist spinner of quality to complement the finger spinners New Zealand produces.

Over the years we've become accustomed to the likes of Hedley Howarth, Stephen Boock, John Bracewell, Patel and Daniel Vettori performing with credit, but you have to go back to the days of Jack Alabaster to find a wrist spinner that commanded a regular spot in the national team.

"It's fair to say our conditions don't help. We don't have wickets that are conducive to wrist spinners. They don't have a lot of bounce."

It's at age group level that Patel believes the problem has to be addressed. Too often he's seen promising spinners mismanaged or, worse, ignored as seamers thrive in our conditions.

"They're not encouraged at grassroots level and that's where we need to do the majority of our work.

"We need to get coaches in place so when we do recognise these talents, we nurture them properly."

Patel coached at first-class level with Central Districts before leaving to set up a coaching academy at the Howick-Pakuranga club in Auckland's eastern suburbs.

He believes there is another tier of talent behind Vettori that can flourish with the right care.

"I think there always is but it's a matter of getting them opportunities and how we can increase those so there's a level playing field for spinners at a young age. We find that at age group level captains and coaches struggle to manage spinners properly. That's an area we want to target by going overseas - look at how they're used and encouraged."

Having said that, Patel is not going to Pakistan in the hope of developing a Saqlain Mushtaq clone, or a Warne from Australia.

New Zealand's unique cricketing environment, he hopes, will throw up unique spinners.

It's a matter of finding them and having the systems in place so they won't fall through the cracks like players like Greg Loveridge have in the past.

"We'd like to set up coaches in each of the provinces so they wouldn't have to travel very far. In the past we've had the likes of Peter Philpott and Terry Jenner who've come in [from Australia] and run these clinics. But they're there for three or four days and they're gone and we don't see them for the rest of the year."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY