Ajaz Patel lay wide awake in his Birmingham hotel bed, willing himself to sleep but unable to nod off, with the nerves of a prospective debutant.
Given the ride he’s been on in test cricket since his stunning debut series in the United Arab Emirates in 2018, it was natural the 32-year-old arrived at Edgbaston with some butterflies, and even trepidation.
Three times the Plunket Shield’s leading wicket-taker for Central Stags in 2016, 2017 and 2018, then a star of the 2-1 series win over Pakistan, the left-arm spinner played just five of New Zealand’s next 18 tests.
He was awarded his first Black Caps contract last year, then after an injury disrupted 2020-21 season lost it in May, such is the fickle existence of a specialist test spinner on green New Zealand swards that don’t crumble.
Patel’s callup for the second test against at Edgbaston was confirmed only after Mitchell Santner aggravated a cut on his left index finger after he got the nod in the draw at Lord’s.
“There were definitely nerves. I couldn’t get to sleep last night, I couldn’t figure out why… I got into bed quite early but the eyes just weren’t helping me,” Patel said. “There was excitement as well, a long time between drinks.”
The last time Patel donned the black cap was in February 2020 at noted spinner’s graveyard the Basin Reserve, against India, where he went wicketless for a third successive test at home. In five away tests, against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Patel won three and lost two, and snared 22 wickets at 28.5.
Edgbaston’s history provided Patel with more of a spring in his spikes on Thursday, with Australia’s Nathan Lyon having spun his side to victory with a nine-wicket haul there two years ago.
Patel was thrown the ball by stand-in skipper Tom Latham in the 21st over, then after the early incisions by Matt Henry and Neil Wagner, the left-armer struck in his sixth over when Ollie Pope edged to late recall Tom Blundell who gloved a slick catch.
Pope was a team-mate at Cranleigh Cricket Club in the Surrey Championship in 2018 when Patel took 56 wickets at 8.43.
“I know him quite well. It was a nice wicket for me to get, and nice to have something like that, that I can maybe put on him down the line,” he said with a smile.
When Patel trapped the recalled Olly Stone lbw attempting a sweep, he ended with figures of 2-34 off 14 overs, a key contributor to a day where the Black Caps took the upper hand on an excellent batting pitch with England 258-7. He was accurate, got some to turn and gave the batsmen little to feed off.
The raucous crowd also lifted Patel, nearly 18,000 of them.
“I spent a lot of time on that boundary and I remember when we walked out there in the morning ‘there’s no way this group is lasting till the last session’, and funnily enough they started going even harder.”
TV graphics showed how accurate Patel was in aiming at the stumps and bringing lbw and bowled into play, which he said was a key for a left-armer rather than being tempted by any rough further out.
In a frustrating home summer, Patel bowled just 60 overs and snared two first-class wickets due to a calf injury.
He said: “It’s been challenging. The injuries didn’t really help my cause, and our conditions not really favouring spinners much. At the same time, I always try to take the positive out of a negative. I used that time to work on a few things in my game; my fitness and my batting.
“By the time you get to this level you would have had many a setback. It’s about going about your business and continuing to grow and improve so that when you get an opportunity you try and make the most of it.”
Now he has a chance to put a strong case for selection against India, his country of birth, in next week’s World Test Championship final.
Santner’s batting got him the nod over Patel in recent years despite being the inferior red ball spinner, and if the latter gets the nod at Southampton it would mean Kyle Jamieson batting at No 7, or dropping one of their four frontline quicks.
Either way, Patel will be hard to leave out if he can finish the job, with the Edgbaston pitch likely to offer increasing turn.
“As a spinner you thrive on opportunities like that, test cricket on a surface where it’s giving you some assistance to pull something together for the team.
“That’s something I enjoy the challenge of and extra responsibility. I’m looking forward to that, and hopefully we can set the game up and I can bring myself into my own.”
https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket...-back-into-test-cricket-after-sleepless-night
