Cricket: Samit Patel’s no to IPL auction

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE all-rounder Samit Patel has withdrawn from the Indian Premier League auction in an attempt to further his claim for a place in England’s Test side.

Patel’s representatives have held talks with several franchises but he elected to declare himself unavailable ahead of last night’s midnight deadline to enter the auction. “My biggest ambition is to play Test cricket and I need to score a high volume of runs in the Championship to push my case,” said Patel.

Meanwhile, England team director Andy Flower has claimed two awards at the 2011 UK Coaching Awards.

Flower won the prize of UK Coach of the Year and High Performance Coach of the Year at a ceremony in London, having led England to their first Ashes triumph in Australia since the winter of 1986-87 at the start of this year and then taking the team to No 1 in the world Test rankings with a 4-0 whitewash of India.