SAMIT PATEL : 'I'D LOVE TO PLAY UNTIL I'M 40'

Nottinghamshire batsman Samit Patel would love to play cricket professionally until he is 40.

The 33-year-old middle-order batsman has already enjoyed 16 years in the game, making his first-class and List A debuts in 2002.

But the all-rounder's appetite for runs and wickets remains undiminished and he is keen to add plenty more to the totals of his impressive playing stats.

“A lot of players get better as they get older and more experienced and I think I fall into the category.”

So far, the Trent Bridge right-hander has scored more than 11,000 first-class runs and taken in excess of 300 wickets, along with another 10,000-plus runs and almost 400 wickets in white ball cricket.

“A lot of players get better as they get older and more experienced and I think I fall into the category,” said Patel, last year’s PCA Players’ Player of the Year and MVP.

“You just get to know your game that bit better and make the most of your ability. Last year was a fantastic season for me at Notts, probably the best I’ve ever played, and now I want to deliver more of the same.

“I said at the end of last season that I want 1,000 runs in Division One of the Championship this season as a minimum, and nothing has changed. That is my target.

“You see players like Graeme Hick, Mark Ramprakash and Kumar Sangakkara play on to a decent age and still produce the goods. That’s what I’d love to do and I’d love to still be doing it at 40.”

Patel returned last week from a highly-successful spell in the Pakistan Super League where he played a pivotal role in Islamabad United winning the competition.

It was with the ball that he really shone, taking 13 wickets at 14.46 and conceding just 6.96 runs per over with his left-arm spin, made all the more remarkable given he bowled the majority of his overs in the power play.

“You see players like Graeme Hick, Mark Ramprakash and Kumar Sangakkara play on to a decent age and still produce the goods.”

A stand-out performance came in the group game against Peshawar Zalmi – the side for whom Notts teammate Riki Wessels played – where he claimed 4-34.

He went on to take 2-26 in the final, with Peshawar again the opponents, meaning it is the second major T20 trophy he has won inside seven months after winning the T20 Blast with Notts Outlaws in September at Edgbaston.

He added: “I just love winning trophies, so to follow up what we did with Notts by winning one of the best T20 leagues in the world was special, and hopefully I’ll get the chance to go back again next year.

“It was a bit of a different role for me from the Outlaws where I have often bowled the opening power play over, but then stopped. This time I was bowling two or three overs straight off.

“It was a great experience to win the qualifier and go straight through to the final and then to win that was amazing. It was a little bit weird going into a new team for the first time, but we soon bonded and got to know each other, which helped us produce some good performances.”

Patel has been a real jetsetter this winter, having clocked up the air miles playing in the Hong Kong Sixes in October, Bangladesh Premier League in November and early December, Super Smash in New Zealand in later December and January, Hong Hong T20 Blitz in February and Pakistan Super League in February and March.

But he was ready for his home comforts on his return to home – and relished coming back into the changing room at Trent Bridge and being among some familiar faces.

“Last season I got my batting into a good place and the key thing in that was getting my tempo right.”

“It’s nice to be back with the lads and what I know well – I’ve missed it,” said Patel. “The one thing I haven’t missed though is the weather, where it was about 25 degrees colder when I got back!

“The pre-season games are big for me because playing against a red ball in April is obviously a lot different to playing against a white ball in hot conditions.

“So the practice out in the middle in these warm-up games is important, as is the time I spend batting in the nets, working with Mooresy (Peter Moores) and Franksie (Paul Franks).

“Last season I got my batting into a good place and the key thing in that was getting my tempo right. That’s what I need to do again and what I’ll be using the days before we go to Old Trafford to do.”

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