Any discussion around Aotearoa's greatest cricketers ever will obviously focus on what those lads have done for the Aotearoa Blackcaps, understandably so. In keeping with the Niche Cache's theory that Aotearoa is the best sporting nation in the world (kg for kg), much of Aotearoa's sporting excellence depends on our exports and what they do for other clubs/teams in other countries around the world.

Part of Aotearoa's sporting excellence sits with those who play for an Aotearoa sports team, wearing that silver fern and some combination of black and white. Another part, perhaps the majority of Aotearoa's sporting excellence who represent Aotearoa through their morals, values and manner, but play for a team that is based in some corner of the globe. With this in mind, when pondering Aotearoa's sporting excellence in the cricketing realm, I'm swift in throwing up Jeetan Patel as an example of the sporting excellence that Aotearoa exports by the kg.

Whether Lord Jeetz as he has become known on the Kiwi County Tour, is viewed by anyone as a contender for being among Aotearoa's greatest cricketers? Well, that may be a stretch but it will depend on what you prioritize. Patel averaged 47.35 in Test cricket and 34.51 in ODI cricket, neither of which can be sliced or diced to highlight Patel's work in the sub-continent or a specific time period; Patel simply wasn't that good in the international arena.

Put ol' mate in a Warwickshire uniform and we are suddenly dealing with one of the County Championship's best spinners ever, definitely of the past decade. Sussing out County cricket numbers can get a bit funky as they tend to be inflated by the amount of cricket played and that's the beauty while we ponder a Plunket Shield season that lasts a couple games, as well as any perceived differences between Division One and Division Two.

Those in England tend to poo-poo Div Two and Patel has spent time in Div Two with Warwickshire, yet international players are still doing their thing in Div Two. Div Two is still County cricket, so I'm not fussed about that and while it's cool to point out Patel has taken 50+ wickets in six of his last eight seasons, what is important here is that Patel's done that with averages below 30. One may take lots of wickets via bowling insane amounts of overs, which is why some lads take big wickets with averages of 35ish.

2013 was the only year in the past eight seasons in which Patel averaged over 30, with his 51 wickets coming @ 30.01avg.

2017 was the only season in which Patel missed the 50w mark, taking 41w @ 29.80avg.

Those are niggly little bits that rule out the 50+ wickets and sub-30 average for eight straight seasons headline. Both instances are so damn close though and kinda round off the whole package nicely, giving Patel wiggle room to prove that neither dip is the status-quo. After average a smidgey-smidge over 30 in 2013, Patel then went on to take 59w @ 26.32avg and after taking a measly 41w in 2017, Patel bounced back with 56w @ 22.78avg in 2018.

Patel's first excursion beyond 50 wickets was 2012 and as you'll see, taking 50+ wickets isn't excessively difficult to do in County cricket. What sets Patel apart from the other County bowlers is how Patel has done this consistently over a long period of time regardless of the other blokes (batsmen and bowlers) who come and go. In 2012, Patel finished 10th for wickets and I've broken down Patel's County work season by season below…

2012: 51w @ 22.76avg/2.93rpo, 10th, Division Tahi.

2013: 52w @ 30.01avg/2.70rpo, 6th, Div Tahi.

2014: 59w @ 26.32avg/3.23rpo, 4th, Div Tahi.

2015: 58w @ 25.27avg/2.94rpo, 7th, Div Tahi.

2016: 69w @ 24.02avg/2.68rpo, 1st, Div Tahi.

2017: 41w @ 29.80avg/2.53rpo, 8th, Div Tahi.

2018: 56w @ 22.78avg/2.95rpo, 7th, Div Rua.

2019: 64w @ 26.75avg/2.69rpo, 3rd, Div Tahi

That is eight straight years of Patel finishing in the top-10 for wickets and all but one of those years saw Warwickshire in Division Tahi. Again, no one has the longevity that Patel has in County cricket and that longevity has seen different spinners battle with Patel as the most effective tweaker in England.

In 2012, Patel battled with Monty Panesar (Sussex) as Panesar finished a spot ahead of Patel in wickets. 2014 saw Adil Rashid (Yorkshire) come into the mix, in 2016 Patel went up against Jack Leach (Somerset) for the top spot and then in 2017 Simon Harmer (Essex) appeared on the County scene having opted out of a future with South Africa for the stability of County cricket.

Since then, Harmer has been the dominant force in County cricket and to many, Harmer became the best spinner in England. Harmer took 72w @ 19.19 in 2017 to finish 2nd in wickets, while Patel sat in 8th. Then as Patel led Warwickshire to promotion in 2018 finishing 7th with 56w @ 22.78, Harmer finished 4th in Div One with 57w @ 24.45 and these two were then re-united in 2019 in Div One.

In 2019, Harmer finished 1st with 83w @ 18.28avg/2.54rpo, more wickets in fewer overs than Patel. Patel wasn't too far behind, chillin' in 3rd and while Harmer has overtaken Patel in recent years as far as best County spinners go, I again fall back to the consistency over time and the fact that Patel is still present, battling with Harmer is bonkers.

Patel has also been a reliable contributor with the white ball, furthering his reputation as the best spinner in England over the past decade. Here are his List-A and T20 stats during that period in England...

List-A

2012: 11w @ 21.90avg.

2013: 16w @ 22.68avg.

2014: 23w @ 17avg.

2015: 6w @ 41avg.

2016: 22w @ 20.31avg.

2017: 10w @ 35.30avg.

2018: 10w @ 26.60avg.

2019: 16w @ 24avg.

T20

2012: 5w @ 35.20avg.

2013: 10w @ 19.90avg.

2014: 25w @ 12.96avg.

2015: 16w @ 25.93avg.

2016: 11w @ 28.18avg.

2017: 20w @ 21.85avg.

2018: 11w @ 38.18avg.

2019: 11w @ 29.72avg.

Throughout Patel's career, he has returned to Aotearoa to play Plunket Shield etc and while Patel hasn't quite been a dominant force in Aotearoa, he has sprinkled his magic in various ways up until his kiwi retirement this summer. This is what holds me back from going all in on Patel being a general kiwi cricket legend as his domestic stuff in Aotearoa falls away from his County Championship stuff, although Patel still managed 36w @ 22.02avg/2.48rpo in the summer of 2017-18 as Patel was joined by Wellington Firebirds homies Logan van Beek and Hamish Bennett in the Plunket Shield's top-four wicket-takers.

This summer marked a weird juncture for Patel as he dabbled in coaching with England, while also playing domestic cricket for Wellington. This saw Patel play five Ford Trophy games without any notable impact and two Super Smash games, in which Patel took 5w in 8 overs @ 9.20avg/5.75rpo. Patel was the only Super Smash bowler to take 5+ wickets while playing less than five games and while both these games were at the start of the Super Smash, Patel played his part in the Firebirds run to the championship.

Within Aotearoa, Patel may sit behind Daniel Vettori as Aotearoa's best spinner depending on your perspective. There is little to suggest that Patel is close to Vettori in terms of Blackcaps performances and if we're talking about big buckets of wickets over multiple seasons, Central Districts Stags spinner Ajaz Patel is the closest thing in Aotearoa to what Jeetan Patel has done in England.

Lord Jeetz isn't a legend for what he has done in Aotearoa or with the Blackcaps, but Aotearoa's sporting excellence relies on exports who shine overseas via their sporting performance and how they conduct themselves as humans. Since 2010, only three kiwis have earned Wisden's Cricketers of the Year (five per year) honour and after Patel got that nod in 2015, Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson were named in 2016.

After joining Warwickshire in 2009, Patel's helped the Bears win the County Championship Division One title in 2012, Division Two title in 2018 to get promoted, as well as Royal London One-Day cup titles in 2010 and 2016. Chuck in a T20 Blast title in 2014 for a laugh as well. All of which culminated in Patel being given the captaincy in 2018, only the third non-England player to be Warwickshire's captain after Brian Lara and Heath Streak.

To me, that smells like kiwi sporting excellence and while plenty of men and women contribute to Aotearoa's sporting excellence via their work in Aotearoa and representing Aotearoa, many are exports who make emphatic contributions overseas. Lord Jeetz is the prime example of a different side of Aotearoa's sport excellence and leads a large group of kiwis who ensure Aotearoa's reputation of the best sporting nation in the world.

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