The Perennial Twelth Man

[Athlai]

Jeetan 'Dave' Patel was born in Wellington, New Zealand on May the 7th, 1980. Patel (as his name suggests) has parents who are both of Indian origin. Yet the most interesting (and relevant to this forum) fact about Jeetan Patel, is that he is a cricket player.

Jeetan Patel represented Wellington age group level-teams (under 15, under 17 and under 19) and was ear-marked as a promising player in the early stages of his career. He made his first class debut in the New Zealand 99/00 season for the Firebirds and was brought into the NZ international team in 2005.

Yet Jeetan Patel has spent much of his career in Daniel Vettori's (New Zealand's premier spinner) shadow. Jeetan Patel is a cricketer who appears to ride on sheer determination and confidence, using loop and drift along with his spin to take the wickets of opposing batsmen. As a dedicated fieldsman, experienced bowler and a handy lower order batsman, Jeetan Patel has been able to cement his position in the Black Cap's squad. But what is his position in this squad?
More often than not, it is that of New Zealand's 12th man.

Often overlooked, under appreciated and under rated, Jeetan Patel is my own favourite cricketer. This young man brings an enthusiasm to the game second to none, even when sitting on the sidelines his natural charisma is undeniable.

This thread is a tribute to Jeeves, New Zealand's 'next' best spinner and one of the most charismatic players to have ever graced the bench.

Jeetan expressing his joy after dismissing Tim Ambrose in the 1st Test vs. England Hamilton, March 7 2008​

 

[NZTailender]

Bruce Martin>Jeetan Patel.

 

[_Ed_]

Legend, is Jeets.

 

[Athlai]

Bruce Martin>Jeetan Patel.

Banish'd TBH.

Never seen an international player as happy to play the game as Jeeves.

 

[Richard]

Undoubtedly he's had a few catches dropped, and had he had all chances taken his figures would be better, but I still don't think they'd be particularly good.

BTW, it can't really be called first-chance average when bowlers are the ones under consideration. Using the same principle, an all-chance average would be a more accurate term.

Being the fan you are, I'm sure you could calculate such a thing for us. And no, something which clipped the fingers of the slip or wicketkeeper or was smashed off the middle of the bat into the short-leg doesn't count.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

From what I've seen he appears a mediocre finger spinner, who's definitely shy of Daniel Vettori's class. Economical and useful, but unlikely to be penetrative in any form of the game. Few fingerspinners are penetrative, and as alluded to before, I consider Patel in the mediocre centre of the spectrum.

 

[Richard]

Few fingerspinners are penetrative

No fingerspinners are penetrative under all circumstances. They need the right sort of pitch to be so, and for the last 40 (nearly) years such pitches have been rare and mostly confined to Sri Lanka and India.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

No fingerspinners are penetrative under all circumstances. They need the right sort of pitch to be so, and for the last 40 (nearly) years such pitches have been rare and mostly confined to Sri Lanka and India.

Rarely do I agree with you as furiously as I do right now.
Of course, things like a good doosra can improve a fingerspinner's potency in unsupportive conditions, but even that won't do much on the majority of pitches these days.

EDIT: Btw, I had to read your post twice, because at first I thought you'd said, "No, fingerspinners are penetrative under all circumstances." and I was taken aback.

 

[masterblaster]

Jeetan Patel is awesome, enjoy watching him bowl and he's a pretty good number 10 or number 11 batsman.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Love watching him bowl, can't think of many other spinners who put as much "revs" on the ball as him.

 

[Richard]

You mean fingerspinners, of course, Liam?

Beau Casson probably puts a fair few more on, despite being several rungs below Patel as a bowler.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Yeah, fingerspinners.

 

[Athlai]

Test match AC average 32.42

ODI AC average 32.43

Crazy that the difference is .01

 

[Richard]

How many catches have been dropped (or stumpings missed, or out decisions wrongly been given n\o) off him, BTW? I haven't really counted.

 

[BoyBrumby]

To offer a shred of hope for Jeetan, Collingwood was in a similar position for us from 2003-05, touring "well" (which I've always taken as an euphemism for not being a moaning ****) & a splendid fielder and Colly's now a fixture in our XI with 30-odd tests on the bounce.

I have to say too that on the occasions I've seen him bowl with Vettori (usually against England, TBF) Patel has almost invariably outbowled the senior twirler. Certainly a bigger spinner of the ball.

 

[Athlai]

How many catches have been dropped (or stumpings missed, or out decisions wrongly been given n\o) off him, BTW? I haven't really counted.

Just did dropped catches TBH as I couldn't be bothered to find it all though from my memory I can't remember many stumpings being missed from him, though a million LBW that should have went his way. 2 catches missed I believe.

 

[Perm]

Seems like an awesome bloke, but a thoroughly mediocre bowler.

Is he good enough to play Test cricket? No.
Is he good enough to play ODI cricket? Yes, just.

 

[Athlai]

Vettori's Test AC average (AC since 2006 ) 33.16. Missed 7 wickets to catching alone and on two 5fers. Noticed it when I was doing Jeets, O'Brien has also had his fair share dropped.

 

[Athlai]

To offer a shred of hope for Jeetan, Collingwood was in a similar position for us from 2003-05, touring "well" (which I've always taken as an euphemism for not being a moaning ****) & a splendid fielder and Colly's now a fixture in our XI with 30-odd tests on the bounce.

I have to say too that on the occasions I've seen him bowl with Vettori (usually against England, TBF) Patel has almost invariably outbowled the senior twirler. Certainly a bigger spinner of the ball.

Thats the beauty of Jeetan Patel really, he actively seeks to better himself. He trained with Murali while Sri Lanka toured here, and is constantly trying to learn and to best his 'mentor' Vettori. When Patel's been given the chance he has out bowled Vettori, showing a rare ability (in fingers pinners) to attack and unsettle the batsmen.

As for the argument against finger-spinners in general, Vettori is a bowler with use outside of turning conditions due to his mastery of flight deviations, Patel models a lot of his bowling on these kind of variations. I reckon its rather final to say that these type of bowlers are never useful in unhelpful conditions, just less so, they can still strangle the batsman if they are good enough. Hamilton for example, it wasn't all that helpful yet Patel and Vettori choked England to a standstill.

 

[Richard]

It depends what "useful" is. Fingerspinners will never take (though they may be gifted) wickets on non-spin-receptive surfaces. Of course, there are circumstances in Test cricket where a non-wicket-taking (or wicket-taking-threat) spell is a good one, but if a bowler is consistently failing to take wickets in Test-matches, he cannot remain in the team IMO. Test bowlers simply must take wickets.