Patel switches plans as England come calling

Samit Patel had planned to go to Dubai anyway. Not to be conveniently placed in case an England spinner tripped over a fielding cone. Just because he fancied a holiday in the sun after a long season. Now he goes to Dubai with England, wondering if the Test series against Pakistan will present an opportunity to add to his five Test caps. The sunbed and ice creams will have to give way to fielding drills and ice baths.

He looks trim, that needs to be stated from the outset. Either that or the Nottinghamshire kit is expertly tailored for the fuller figure. "He obviously hasn't been fitness-tested by England because he is off their radar but he is fitness-tested by Notts on a regular basis and his tests are good," said Mick Newell, his director of cricket.

Pick him, then talk him down. Both Patel and Newell, one of those who selected him, are playing down the chance of him actually getting a game. As a replacement for Zafar Ansari, he is very much the third spinner in line, behind Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, and unlike Ansari he is not a selection with the future in mind. It is not impossible to draw up an XI where all three play - in fact, Patel's most recent Test appearance, at Kolkata in December 2012, came alongside two other spinners in Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar. But it does seem unlikely.

"We weren't sitting there with hundreds of names in front of us," Newell conceded. "There are a number of experienced offspinners and there are a number of promising legspinners, although they are a long way from being regarded as Test match bowlers."

Had the selectors spoken much of Patel in recent years? "A little bit in a very broad discussion of spin bowlers - Samit's name comes up at most selection meetings." Newell chuckled as he said it. One imagines it has often come up ruefully, an interlude between the serious stuff. But the bond between the player and his director of cricket is a strong one.

"I am delighted for Samit because he has never given up hope," Newell said. "It has been a while since he last played but he has always talked about his desire to play for England and he has this unexpected opportunity so let's hope he makes the most of it. I have felt for two or three years that he still had a chance of selection in sub-continent conditions.

"If England were going to Australia or South Africa, I don't think Samit would be an obvious pick but this is a tour where unusually three spinners have been selected, the left-arm spinner who got selected was injured and Samit was the most obvious spinner in that role."

All that is just detail for Patel. He is just happy to be back. Last season, in the form of his life, he was determinedly ignored. This season, although short of runs in the Championship, fortune has favoured him. There were times when he seemed to be the only person in the country who believed he would go on another England tour, and he has been proved right.

Frustration has been replaced by a bountiful smile, although that frustration was tempered by a recognition of the qualities of the player who got the vote last season. Moeen Ali was championed by Peter Moores, then England coach, now assisting at Nottinghamshire. "I thought I had a chance last season, but they went with Moeen. That pick is not a disappointment for me. He proved he deserved to have it."

This is a good news story, although some will see it largely as an example of England's calamitous spin-bowling shortage. There is much affection for Patel at Trent Bridge, especially among the crowd. He is a character cricketer, a player who draws a smile, celebrating his skill as one of the best players of spin in the country (as there are hardly any spinners, he does not get much chance to prove it), sympathising with his occasional disasters, and relishing his expressive responses as life turns from good to bad and back to good again.

He is a man of many guises. There is the cunning Samit, as one of his left-arm slows beats the outside edge, and persuades him that he has his quarry in sight; there's the celebratory Samit, bounding around when something goes well, briefly feeling himself the best player in the world; the startled, wide-eyed Samit as events begin to conspire against him; and the disconsolate Samit when a run chase goes awry, he hangs his head and the world briefly becomes insufferable.

And there will always be a distinctive mix of self-belief and comedy. Only Patel could follow an ECB tweet announcing his call-up for the Pakistan tour with a wicket at the same moment. "The very moment the press release went out he caused Sean Ervine to loft to mid-off where Stuart Broad, an England colleague again, held the catch … that's Samit for you," Newell smiled.

Only Patel could follow-up a tour de force of stamina by Surrey's Kumar Sangakkara in the Royal London Cup semi-final at the Kia Oval by needing treatment for cramp… when he was barely in double figures. Such rich irony. He will be forever worth watching, the sort of player you want to carry on until he is 40.

Patel is 30 now and, while he chatted, he referred several times about how he is a mature person these days - habitually adding the word "hopefully" as if he feared something might go awry if he claimed too much. It will soon be Nottinghamshire's end-of-season drinks party. "I will try to curb it as much as I can," was his scampish response.

He has never met Trevor Bayliss, England's coach, and is looking forward to working with him, and is thrilled by the prospect of learning from Mahela Jayawardene, who will join the tour as a batting coach. When it comes to the art of playing spin, he will be one of Jayawardene's brightest students.

"I will bat anywhere just to play - that's non-negotiable," he said. "Opportunities have not come as I would have liked but that's just the way sometimes. I will be behind Moeen and Rash to play but I will be happy just to go on the trip. To work with a new coach and with Mahela Jayawardene - I can't wait. To learn off him will be outstanding."

Patel has been unfortunate in that batting is his strong suit, but spin bowling has often won him selection, creating an imbalance in how he is used. Recognising that England will not change, this season he has tried to change himself, placing more emphasis on his bowling in red-ball cricket.

"I set my goal as 40 wickets for the year and I started really well but I have not had as much bowling as I would have liked," he said. "I've been happy with how I've been bowling but it hasn't been a spinner's summer to be honest.

"It's about thinking like a spin bowler really, rather than a top-order batsman who bowls a bit of spin. How to create more wicket-taking deliveries. I presume I am just a replacement but I am just happy to get out there and impress some coaches."

The sun shone down on Trent Bridge. Samit Patel belonged. He felt special again.