Ravi Patel to leave Middlesex
Jonathan Winsky
17 September, 2018 19:42
As was feared,
Ravi Patel will leave Middlesex at the end of the 2018 season as his contract will not be renewed. It had long been hoped that he could have sustained a position as the number one spinner at the club, which is a position I think he actually reached at a couple of points. However, inside the club, he hasn’t been helped by the presence of Ollie Rayner (who is able to contribute with the bat and in the slips in addition to with the ball) and Nathan Sowter, or by the signing of Ashton Agar for our Twenty20 campaign in 2018 (although he ended up playing only 6 of the 14 matches for which he was signed), while the emergence of Thilan Walallawita poses an additional threat. Outside the club, the way the County Championship is now scheduled has proven to be bad news for spin bowlers across the country, as it seems that teams are more likely to require the presence of no spinners for a particular match than they are to require the presence of two spinners.
I feel pessimistic about the possibility of Patel finding another county, as he is now aged 27, and most counties prefer to give opportunities to players who came through their own system, plus there seems to be fewer opportunities for spinners for the reasons I stated above. However, Patel is clearly rated highly, as he participated in the North v South series in the spring just gone. Hopefully he will find something.
On Twitter, Patel has written "Since the age of 9, all I've ever known is Middlesex. Playing for this club meant a lot for me and importantly than the cricket, over the last 18 years, I feel I have become a better person through being a part of this club. I've had so many great memories that I will never forget both on and off the field. Playing professionally for 9 years for this club is something I'm highly proud of and is something I will always look back at with pride. I would like to thank everyone I've ever worked with at the club, including my teammates and support staff as it has been a great environment to be a part of for so long. I would also like to thank the fans who have always supported me and wished me well. From now on I will always support the club and wish the boys all the best moving forward. As for me at 27, I feel there is a lot of cricket in me, I am excited to see what the future holds and am ready to embrace the challenges ahead".
[edit to correct errors when I copied the message written by Patel]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 17/09/2018 22:15 by Jonathan Winsky.