We weren't exactly starved of strange selection decisions this summer with regards to Aotearoa cricket last summer. Not quite as strange as the wicket-keeping situation and far less confusing, was the return of Jeetan Patel into the Blackcaps Test and ODI teams. The fact that there did seem to be a clear plan in place only made this even crazier when Patel didn't actually feature in the climax that his selection and the whole summer had been leading up to.

Before going any further though, it's important to note how I have come to separate the Kiwi County Tour's Lord Jeetz and Blackcaps Jeetan Patel. The Kiwi County Tour is it's own entity, exclusive of the Blackcaps and the two versions of Patel are vastly different creatures. Lord Jeetz has taken 50+ wickets in County cricket over the past five English summers and up until this season, Jeetz' First-Class average in England crept above 30 (30.01 in 2013) just once.

Compare that to Patel's last five kiwi summers; 50.82avg (2012/13), 47.33avg (2013/14), 42.68avg (2014/15), 34.31avg (2015/16), 30.92avg (2016/16).

It's safe to say that Lord Jeetz has earned his 'Lord' status on the KCT, while it's debatable what Patel offers outside of County cricket. Why stop there? Patel got ripped to shreds for batting performance against Dale Steyn in South Africa a few years ago and this season in England, he's averaging 29.37 with the bat, along with two previous seasons (2013, 2014) in which Lord Jeetz averaged 30+. Since 2012, Lord Jeetz has hit 11 half-centuries in England.

That means that if Lord Jeetz wants to listen to Young Thug on the KCT bus, we're listening to Young Thug. Or if Lord Jeetz wants to gap the pub to have a sesh in the car, we're gapping the pub to have a sesh. Lord Jeetz has thoroughly earned his Lord status and the right to being top-dawg of the KCT. 

So it's understandable that these sexy numbers caught the eye of the Blackcaps (conveniently after Brendon McCullum had left the scene) and as the Champions Trophy was to be held in England, there's logic in the decision to bring Patel back into the fold. I was however a wee bit annoyed when Patel was brought into the Blackcaps Test team in India as I viewed this as a fantastic opportunity for Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi to learn some harsh but valuable lessons.

The chances of Aotearoa getting smoked by India, in India, were very high and there wasn't really a whole lot to gain by bringing Patel back into the mix - other than getting him back in the mix for the CT. Patel, Santner and Sodhi were all likely to be put to the sword by India's batsmen, so this was more about gaining experience in such a tough environment for Santner and Sodhi. Santner bowled 932 deliveries and averaged 52.40 as the main spinner, with Patel taking Sodhi's workload without doing any better; 498 deliveries @ 48.66avg vs 210 deliveries @ 49.66avg.

Annoying but not super crazy as Patel's an experienced cricketer who hopefully helped Aotearoa's young spinners. The same goes with the idea around getting Patel back into the ODI team as it's wise to get a bloke who not only plays his cricket in England but has dominated County cricket for so long. I like that idea as it's evidence of something that was severely lacking all summer; clear planning.

Funny then that such a fine example of a plan being in place, didn't actually come to fruition as Patel didn't play a single game at the CT (where the Blackcaps were mediocre). On the one hand there was a icky lack of planning and then on the other hand, when a clear plan did seem to be in place it wasn't actually put into action.

Even then, Patel was in the midst of his worst one-day English summer of the past five years. Just as Patel's dominated County cricket, he's dominated the Royal London One-Day Cup for Warwickshire, only this year he's struggled to back that up. Here are Patel's averages over the past five one-day seasons in England...

2012: 21.90.
2013: 22.68.
2014: 17.
2015: 41 (the only year Patel bowled less than 350 deliveries).
2016: 20.31.
2017: 35.50.

Here's Patel's averages over the last five FC  seasons in England...

2012: 35.14.
2013: 30.01.
2014: 26.32.
2015: 25.27.
2016: 24.02.
2017: 39.61.

Some fantastic work had led to Patel getting making his return to the Blackcaps in 2016, I just find it odd that his return to the Blackcaps coincided with a major drop-off in his 2017 work in England. The CT squad was selected before Patel played one-day cricket for Warwickshire this year, but Patel headed into the CT on the back of his worst English summer across List-A and FC cricket. And that's after Patel had been picked for the Blackcaps on what he had done in England.

Patel was effectively selected over Sodhi this summer and to make matters worse, Sodhi put Patel in the shade in both the Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy:

Plunket Shield

Sodhi: 40 wickets @ 25.92avg (seven games).
Patel: 19 wickets @ 28.31avg (five games).

Ford Trophy

Sodhi: 14 wickets @ 19.42avg (six games).
Patel: 11 wickets @ 35.36avg (10 games).

Todd Astle (32.33), George Worker (27.25) and Tim Johnston (23.07) also had better Ford Trophy averages than Patel, thus kinda making Patel the fifth best one-day spinner of the kiwi summer. That's no basis to pick Patel from, although when we chuck in the 'English experience' factor back in, I can see how Patel would be selected over the other spinners. Obviously - need I remind y'all again - Patel didn't actually play in the CT.

Above, is a strong case for why Sodhi should have played a lot more cricket for Aotearoa last summer, in the Test and ODI teams. When Aotearoa decided to play two spinners in a Test in Dunedin, it was Patel who bowled alongside Santner, not Sodhi. That's despite Sodhi being one of three bowlers to take 40+ Plunket Shield wickets last summer and the other two bowlers were also spinners; Ajaz Patel and Tarun Nethula.

Once again though, I'm not bitter about this because I can see some level of logic, perhaps via hindsight. Some - myself included to some extent - would argue that it was beneficial to give Sodhi another summer of consistent domestic cricket before really unleashing him to international cricket. Sodhi did nothing but dominate domestic cricket last summer and I think we'll see long-term benefits from the summer of 2016/17.

Then again, I also think the Blackcaps would have done a bit better at the CT with an attacking leggy. You never know; they could have done a lot better if they actually put Patel to use, the very use he was brought back for. At least I won't have to worry about these ever-confusing Blackcaps angles with Lord Jeetz any more.

All's well that ends well (minus some shitty Blackcaps) and we move into a future where Jeetz solely focuses on the Kiwi County Tour. While Sodhi is coming off his strongest kiwi summer yet and looks primed to establish himself as a key Blackcaps weapon.

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