Samit Patel casts critical eye over great Nottinghamshire performances

A full day spent watching yourself on television might not be everyone’s cup of tea but the 35-year old admitted it was a real treat to look back on Nottinghamshire’s double-winning success in the white-ball formats from three summers ago.

“2017 was a very special year for us,” he said. “To win both white ball tournaments will stay with me forever.”

Putting out suitable content is tough for all television companies right now, so when a full day of Outlaws’ two 2017 final victories was screened, the all-rounder settled down and made himself comfortable.

“I’ve just seen the odd clip here and there,” he revealed. “But to sit and watch the Lord’s one-day final in its entirety, followed by our T20 Finals Day win was very special.

“That was one special knock from Alex Hales at Lord’s - a freakish knock from a freakish player.

“We were five or six wickets down and he was playing like that. It was almost like he was playing on a different wicket to everyone else, he was certainly playing on a different level.

“I don’t think there’s been a better one-day knock, ever.”

Whilst Hales scooped up the accolades for his unbeaten 187 against Surrey it was Patel, himself, who took the man-of-the-match award on Finals Day as the Outlaws defeated Birmingham Bears.

The stylish right-hander scored an undefeated 64 but showered praise on Brendan Taylor, who scored 65 as the pair put on 132 together.

“That T20 final was great to watch, it was particularly good to see Brendan’s innings again,” Patel said.

“We knew he had so much class when he joined us because he’d been such a star for Zimbabwe at the 2015 World Cup and had spent his entire international career playing against the very toughest opposition.

“We didn’t always see him at his best at Notts. But he was second to none when facing spin and he was terrific that day. That innings really showcased his talents.

“When we set off together in that final we didn’t need to take any risks, we had lost three early wickets and needed to re-build, so we didn’t lose any more.

“Towards the end we smacked it around and then Dan Christian came in and we took 25 off the final over, that really did put the nail in their coffin.”

Like most Nottinghamshire supporters, there’s one other day of cricketing drama that Patel would love to see screened during the current lockdown.

“I’d love to see the final day of the 2010 county championship season,” he said. “I’ve never seen it and it would make great viewing.

“The whole four days of that match were remarkable, even though most of it was lost to the rain. On the third evening we went for a team meal and just spent the whole time discussing how we could get the necessary points we needed to win the title.

“The favoured option seemed to lie in the hope that Lancashire would agree to set up a last-day run chase but they wouldn’t budge on us setting them something like 160 from 60 overs.

“So, we had to go the long way, we needed to score 400 and then take three wickets.”

Incredibly, amidst high drama, Notts achieved their goals, with Patel taking the winning catch as Shiv Chanderpaul edged Andre Adams to slip.

“As it came to me I realised how much was at stake but thankfully I held on, it was about the first one I’d held there all year,” Patel joked.

With all professional sport on hold in this country there might be plenty of time to catch up on past glories for the former international but he hopes that this season won’t be completely written off.

“It would be fantastic if we did get some cricket this summer,” he said.

“Everything is going to be in the air for a long time yet and the ECB will only reintroduce cricket when it’s safe to do so.

“We must wait and see how it all unfolds and be guided by the experts but I imagine it will eventually give everyone a real boost to be able to see some live sport again, even if it’s only on TV.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper when you do your weekly shop.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you