I Was Made A Scapegoat By The ECB: Samit Patel

Former England all-rounder Samit Patel has alleged that he was made a sort of scapegoat by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and that issues related to his fitness were not handled well by the governing body.

Patel endured multiple roadblocks in his career due to fitness-related issues which saw him get dropped from the English team on more than one occasion.

In a recent interview with Youtube channel Cricket Life Stories, Samit Patel said that he was left pretty disappointed by the manner in which ECB handled the situation regarding his fitness, stating that the board directly went to the media without even having a discussion with him.

“No, it just got chucked out there which I was pretty disappointed about. In my opinion, [it was] handled poorly by the ECB. [It was] not entirely their fault but if you put it now, things would be handled way differently by the ECB and captains and coaches. Maybe [I was] a little bit of a scapegoat, first up, but you live and you learn with this kind of stuff,” said Samit Patel.

Patel was first dropped from the English team in 2009 when Andrew Strauss took over as captain. The former spin-bowling all-rounder reckoned that his axing was due to the fact that Strauss wanted to stamp his authority on the team.

“We went through a period where we were losing and Straussy came in and wanted different standards with (Andy) Flower. It was that crossover period where people need to make some kind of statement and stamp their authority in different roles and I coped it for that,” he added.

‘I’ve not really heard from anyone post my last one-dayer’- Samit Patel

Samit Patel further revealed that he was left disappointed after he was ignored for the 2011 World Cup as he felt that he had done enough to claim a spot in the team.

“To not make it, knowing that you should be there and you’re not there, it didn’t sit well with me. But as I said before, you live and you learn and it’s both parties’ fault, but as I say now, ays things would be handled way differently,” he added.

Samit was again recalled in the team before he was dropped in 2013, again without any communication.

“I’ve had no conversations after 2013, 14 really, in terms of one-day cricket, at all. I don’t know what’s happened. Face doesn’t fit, fizzled out, you call it what you want. But yeah, I’ve not really heard from anyone post my last one-dayer, I can’t remember when it was, but I’ve heard nothing.” said Samit Patel.

Patel, who featured in six Tests, 36 ODIs, and 18 T20Is, played his last game for England in 2015. He signed off by saying that he has never missed any game due to fitness issues.

”I’ve never missed one game for England or Notts. It all comes down to sports science. They forgot about the skills base. It’s funny how no one mentions fitness issues with me now,” he added.

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