As a hard-hitting middle-order batsman and a more-than-capable slow left-arm bowler, Samit Patel has had several opportunities to make his mark for England, especially in limited-overs cricket, without ever quite holding down a regular place

He has been involved in a permanent attempt to persuade England that his fitness levels are acceptable and the left-arm slows that made him an especially tempting option in Asia turned out to lack the guile to trouble the best players. When he was omitted from England's World T20 squad for a tournament to be held in Bangladesh, he was approaching his 30th birthday with his England future in doubt.

Patel's early career was full of promise. He represented England at Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 levels, and was awarded the Test Match Special Young Cricketer of the Year award in 2000 for his impressive performances in the Under-15 World Cup.

He made his debut for Nottinghamshire 2nd XI at the age of just 14, in late 1999 but it wasn't until 2006 that he finally began to show signs of realising his potential, scoring 156 not out against Middlesex, an innings in which he went from 100 to 150 in just 17 balls.

Some of his most eye-catching performances came in Twenty20, including a unique double-wicket maiden against Derbyshire in 2006, but it was in 50-over cricket that he first attracted the interest of England's selectors, who picked him in his first international squad for the 2008 Champions Trophy.

Patel impressed during his breakthrough season in 2008 where he played 11 ODIs in 2008, particularly during a haul of 5 for 41 to beat South Africa at The Oval.But instead of kicking on to greater things, his career stagnated into a cautionary tale, amid repeated failures to respond to the cajoling of the England management, and get into the gym to sort out a waistline that was too wide for the standards expected of an international cricketer. The county circuit did not lack for stories about accidents on treadmills or his penchant for chocolate bars

England's frustration was at its height ahead of the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent. England desperately wanted to be able to include him for the slow, low wickets of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and named him in their 30-man provisional squad, with the expectation that he would respond accordingly. "All we were saying was 'get into reasonable shape'. It didn't have to be perfect," said England's coach, Andy Flower.

That public rollicking appeared, finally, to have made the penny drop. Patel worked hard enough at his fitness before the 2011 season to have reached the basic targets laid out by England and he was rewarded with a recall to the limited-overs set-up after a strong start to the summer with Nottinghamshire, his first involvement for two-and-a-half years.

His work paid off as he passed 1,000 runs in a season for the first time and took 33 wickets for Nottinghamshire. He was one of few players to come out of England's ill-fated one-day tour of India in credit with 160 runs 40.00.

Patel was an England regular in limited-overs cricket when he earned a first Test call up for England's tour of Sri Lanka in March 2012. Despite a modest domestic season in which he passed 50 only three times in first-class matches and had a top score of only 69, he was also selected for England's 2012-13 tour of India, where he made his first century in a senior England side in a warm-up match against India A and was selected for the first three Tests without ever making an impact.

Although he remained a dangerous batsman for Nottinghamshire in all formats, a Championship bowling average of nearly 50 in a dry summer in which he had ample opportunity to make his mark emphasised that his bowling skills were more useful in one-day cricket. They were never more valuable than when a spell of 3 for 21 from seven overs helped Nottinghamshire beat Glamorgan by 87 runs in the 2013 YB40 final at Lord's to win their first limited-overs trophy for more than 20 years.

ESPNcricinfo staff