Ajaz Patel will be hoping to force Gary Stead's hand in the home summer. Photo / Getty
Ajaz Patel will be hoping to force Gary Stead's hand in the home summer. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
One of the frustrations of life is having creative endeavours assessed by those who do not have the talent of the person doing the creating – a feeling I suspect Ajaz Patel has been experiencing aplenty.
The little left-arm spinner's historic 10 for 119 against India catapulted him intothe international cricketing stratosphere. However, re-entry to the New Zealand atmosphere has come with a galling thud - he is not one of New Zealand Cricket's top 20 players, missing out on a contract back in May.
Embarrassing, much, for Black Caps coach Gary Stead, fellow selector Gavin Larsen and high performance manager Bryan Stronach? All could be said to have joined the Major Misjudgment Club when deciding against giving Patel a contract.
To be fair, there's standing room only in that particular club. Dick Rowe – the man who turned down the Beatles for his record label in the 1960s – is probably the most famous example (he allegedly said: "Guitar groups are on their way out").
William Orton, head onion of Western Union in 1876, declared Alexander Graham Bell's invention to be a toy. He later was forced to admit the rights to the "toy" he wouldn't pay US$100,000 for was a steal at $25 million two years later – then known as the telephone.
My own profession is not immune – as in the San Francisco editor who decreed there would be no interest in a political scandal in the 1970s, leaving a competing San Francisco paper to run the Washington Post's syndicated coverage of Watergate.
It's easy to be wise after the event, of course, and this is no attack on Stead and Larsen. The former has been a highly successful coach thus far and could even be said to have been too good at his job – building such depth that a new cricketing superstar can't get in the (contracted) team. Larsen gained renown as a miserly one-day dibbly-dobbly bowler known as 'The Postman' - he always delivered, and has delivered as a selector.
Stead was himself a well-performed leg-spin bowler and stubborn batsman for Canterbury who five tests for New Zealand – the son of David Stead, another leg-spinner.
This spin history makes it even more curious that Patel missed out on a contract – and leaves an enhanced feeling that New Zealand's traditional bias against spinners in favour of medium-fast bowlers is alive and well.
It doesn't stop Patel playing for the Black Caps, but if New Zealand Cricket had any sense, they would make him the 21st contracted player or adopt a system of graded contracts which would bring Patel more into the fold. Most countries have 20 contracted players though India have 28 and England 24, with four incremental contracts.
Sure, there were extenuating circumstances. Patel had been injured and hadn't played much when the contracts were dished out; no one would suggest that any of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, Kyle Jamieson and Lockie Ferguson should be moved aside. Patel may also find it difficult to keep living up to the figures that will surely be the best in his career.
But if I were Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner, I'd be looking over my shoulder a bit, especially the former.
Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry might be looking over their shoulders. Photo / Getty
What came through loud and clear from the tour of India was how much Patel reminded you of Daniel Vettori – a repertoire of subtlety and variation using flight, drift, speed and spin.
Okay, he is 33 – but hardly a pensionable age for a spinner. Muttiah Muralitharan was nearly 39 when he chucked it in (sorry, couldn't resist) as was Shane Warne. Vettori was 36 when he retired and would have gone for longer if it hadn't been for his troublesome back.
The only contracted spinners to New Zealand cricket are Santner and leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, both regarded as white-ball bowlers. Santner's place is probably secure, courtesy of his ability to tie up an end in short-form cricket. His 2019 heroics are not forgotten – at the World Cup (choking India's middle order to help the Black Caps make the final); his maiden test century (helping BJ Watling in a partnership of 261) was a big part of New Zealand's innings victory over England at Mount Maunganui.
However, Henry may be vulnerable. He has a reputation as a wicket-taker, but an expensive one; he has just turned 30, hardly an apprentice. Does New Zealand need six contracted fast bowlers when Patel could (and should) easily gain entry to the test team as resident spinner?
Stead and co have done so well with the Black Caps that it is a shame they seem to be clinging to the old Kiwi safety-first ploy of going with the seamers and swingers. It's time for them to have a bit more courage and continue with Patel – contract in hand, please – in the test team, at least.
If not, they risk ending up like the TV bosses who fired a young Oprah Winfrey as a reporter because she was "unfit for TV news"; she couldn't separate her emotions from her stories, apparently.
Today, Winfrey is worth about $3 billion. Her emotions are probably in much better shape than Patel's.
