Notts Outlaws are desperate to ensure long-serving captain Chris Read ends his 50-over career in style with Royal London One-Day Cup final victory, insists prolific batsman Samit Patel.
Read will bow out of senior domestic cricket at the end of this season having served the club for 20 years by the end of the 2017 summer, during which time he has clocked up more than 300 List A appearances.
The influence the 38-year-old wicket-keeper has had on a whole host of team-mates during that time is widely acknowledged as being extensive and hugely valued, meaning the current crop of players want Read's finale to be a special one.
“To win (at Lord's) would be outstanding and a great way for him (Chris Read) to bow out.”
“We massively want to win this game for Ready, we’d do anything to end it like that for him because he’s played such a big part for the Club down the years,” said Patel.
“To get to Lord’s is special, but to win would be outstanding and a great way for him to bow out.
“There’s not much more you can say about Ready that hasn’t been said already. He’s pretty quiet, gets on with the job, and leads on and off the field with his approach. He knows when it’s right to call time and he’s calling time when he feels it’s the right moment in his life.
“It’s going to be an emotional day for him and all the lads, especially if we win.”
Former Worksop College student Patel has been a vital part of the Club’s march to the final, with the third highest aggregate number of runs in this season’s competition – 532 from nine innings at an average of 76.
The impressive tally has included two centuries – 103 not out in the group stages against Lancashire and 122 not out against Somerset in the semi-final – amid a purple patch of form that has also recently see him become the first Nottinghamshire player to hit back-to-back County Championship double centuries.
“To me, one-day cricket is a big part of my season and I still want to play for England.”
Patel believes that, at 32, he still has something to offer his country, in one day cricket at least, and said: “I think this is the best I have ever played. I’ve spoken a lot to Mooresy (Peter Moores) about the tempo of my batting and that seems to have worked well.
“To me, one-day cricket is a big part of my season and I still want to play for England. I don’t know how people will be thinking and how far off I am, but I’ll just take it one game at a time and see how many runs I can get.
“I still feel I have a lot more to offer in the white ball format with an England shirt on.”
With all official supporters’ coaches sold out and many more tickets purchased by those making their own way down to the capital, the Outlaws will be able to count on a healthy backing.
Patel feels those fans could be vital in a game that has the makings of a classic.
“We’re confident we can win the trophy, but, at the same time, Surrey are a very experienced team who get themselves into one-day finals pretty regularly,” he said.
“We’re confident we can win the trophy, but, at the same time, Surrey are a very experienced team."
“They have the Sangakkaras The Dernbachs, the Battys, the Currans, the Stonemans… the list goes on, so it has the makings of being a very good game.
“Our fans can be our 12th man. The way they support us in all forms of cricket is fantastic and it will be great to see them going down to Lord’s in their numbers for this game.”
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