Cricketer Jeetan Patel Completes Immense Season in UK

New Zealand cricketer Jeetan Patel, 34, who has been confirmed as the most valuable player of 2014 by the UK’s Professional Cricketers’ Association, has completed an “immense season” as spinner for Warwickshire.

“Patel has produced some of the finest cricket of his career and is, at the time of writing, the only man in the land to take 100 wickets in all competitions this season,” ESPNcricinfo senior correspondent George Dobell writes.

“When he first joined the club, in 2009, he appeared a modest signing. With a first-class bowling average in the 40s and a reputation for timidity with the bat, he appeared reflective of the paucity of options available among modern overseas players.

“Yet he has proved to be an inspired recruitment. He has now taken 185 first-class wickets for the club at an average of 27.12, as well as contributing two centuries and nine half-centuries in typically aggressive fashion. A first-class batting average of 28.85 for the club reflects the work he has put in and the success he has had.”

Patel plays domestic cricket for the Wellington Firebirds and has represented the New Zealand Black Caps in One Day Internationals, Twenty20 matches, and Test cricket.

Original article by George Dobell, ESPNcricinfo, September 25, 2014.