Samit Patel shows best and worst qualities

Samit Patel fell five runs short of a century when he was run out in bizarre fashion. Attempting a quick single to Vikram Solanki at mid-off, Patel absent-mindedly veered off to the left and failed to ground his bat as Solanki hit the stumps with his throw.
Despite this setback, Nottinghamshire had comfortably the better of the first day's play with Adam Voges, the Australia batsman, making 99 before he was caught behind down the leg side just before the close.
Ryan Sidebottom is certain to miss the first Test match against West Indies, starting on May 6, as he continues his recovery from an operation on an Achilles tendon. He is unlikely to play for Nottinghamshire's first XI until early May and yesterday he played for MCC against Rugby School.
Against a Worcestershire attack badly missing Kabir Ali, who has a hamstring injury, Patel had enjoyed some fortune, being dropped three times. But he also played some wonderful straight drives in front of James Whitaker, the England selector, making his 95 from 137 balls with 15 fours and a six. The pick of his strokes was a beautifully timed back-foot drive for four between Ashley Noffke, the bowler, and mid-off.
With several of Nottinghamshire's top-order batsmen injured, Patel had volunteered to move up to No 3 in the order. Having been dropped from England's one-day squad recently because of his poor attitude towards fitness, these are a crucial few weeks in his career.
“I wouldn't say we've seen a marked change in his attitude; we've seen a slight change and he's going in the right direction,” Mick Newell, the Nottinghamshire director of cricket, said. Although his innings yesterday offered a reminder of his sparkling talent, his dismissal was another sign of mental lassitude. “He asked to have a look at the replay of his run-out, but I told him he'd be better not to,” Newell said.
Patel's dismissal left Nottinghamshire on 186 for three, but Voges and Chris Read strengthened their position with a fifth-wicket stand of 114, Read finishing unbeaten on 69. Voges had a disappointing first season at Trent Bridge last year, passing fifty only three times in the championship. He also struggled for Western Australia during the winter, but yesterday looked in good touch, only to fall one run short of his first first-class hundred since December 2007 when he got a thin edge to a leg-side ball from Matt Mason and was caught by Steven Davies. He had faced 224 balls, hitting nine fours and two sixes.
Nottinghamshire: First Innings M A Wagh c Davies b Mason 19 B M Shafayat c Mitchell b Arif 14 S R Patel run out 95 A C Voges c Davies b Mason 99 A D Brown lbw b Whelan 4 *C M W Read not out 69 G P Swann not out 19 Extras (b 5, lb 4, w 2, nb 4) 15 Total (5 wkts, 96 overs) 334
S C J Broad, M A Ealham, A R Adams and D J Pattinson to bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-46, 3-186, 4-199, 5-313.
Bowling: Noffke 18-6-47-0; Mason 19-7-60-2; Arif 22-4-91-1; Whelan 18-1-81-1; Batty 19-5-46-0.
Worcestershire: D K H Mitchell, S C Moore, *V S Solanki, B F Smith, M M Ali, S M Davies, A A Noffke, G J Batty, C D Whelan, Imran Arif, M S Mason.
Umpires: R J Bailey and R A Kettleborough.
Source:The times