Samit Patel threw away England World Cup place, says Andy Flower

England coach says Patel had chance to play in World Cup
'He would have been chosen had he improved his fitness'
Samit Patel England
Samit Patel last played for England in 2008 and has since been criticised for his fitness and commitment. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA

Samit Patel has thrown away an England World Cup place because he has been unwilling to work on his fitness, it was revealed today.

England's coach, Andy Flower, said: "It is very frustrating but only the individual is responsible for that. Samit was chosen in the [provisional 30-man] squad because his type of player would be very useful in the subcontinent. He was chosen on the condition that he would improve his physical state to be in consideration for this squad of 15. He hasn't done that."

The Nottinghamshire all-rounder had been included in the provisional party for next month's World Cup on condition that he improved his fitness; but his name was missing when the list was culled to 15 earlier today.

Flower added: "All we were saying was 'get into reasonable shape'. It didn't have to be perfect. In fact, all we wanted to see was an improvement, but a significant improvement.

"We don't expect any of our guys to be perfect, physically, but we do expect them to work hard and it is an indication of your mindset and how much you want to play for England, how you are able to discipline yourself. You have to make good decisions to get yourself into good physical shape. We want tough, determined cricketers playing for England and he is not indicating that he is capable of that."

Patel, 26, played all his 11 ODIs in 2008, when Kevin Pietersen was the England captain. As a hard-hitting but orthodox batsman and parsimonious left-arm spinner he immediately impressed, and took five for 41 against South Africa at The Oval.

As a more gifted cricketer than James Tredwell, he would almost certainly have edged into England's 15 for the World Cup had he shown a willingness to work on his fitness.

Patel was dropped from the England fold in March 2009 and warned about his weight and on 19 January, 2010, exactly a year before today's news, the national selector Geoff Miller warned the player that he would not play international cricket again unless he got into shape.

Miller said then: "He knows what is required. We explained to him and had many conversations with him.

"If he can go and discipline himself and get himself ready for what is required in international cricket then we'll revisit. But the ball is in his court now and he has to go away and understand what is necessary.

"He's being helped all the time but it's a situation when you work on fitness that you have to help yourself.

"He's had the message delivered by me and the coach and the captain so he knows what is required and he must go away and do that."

Flower added: "It would be sad if he looks back on his career and he hasn't done something that everyone is capable of. Everyone is capable of hard work, it just takes a bit of discipline."

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