Harshad Patel
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| Batting style | Right-handed batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right arm off-break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: Cricinfo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Harshad Vallabhbhai Patel (born 29 January 1964) is a Kenyan-born former English cricketer: an opening batsman and an occasional off-spinner who appeared in one first-class match for Worcestershire in 1985, and has since played minor counties cricket for Staffordshire and Herefordshire. He also represented England Amateur XI. Patel was born in Nairobi.
Having represented Worcestershire's Second XI in the early 1980s, in which he showed potential, Patel was selected for the first-class game against Cambridge University in June 1985. He scored 39 in his only, but unfortunately never selected again. He continued for Worcestershire seconds until the end of the season, then played a few games for Derbyshire II with success in 1986 before returning later that same season to play a handful more games for Worcestershire seconds. In late August he scored 54 for Stourbridge Cricket Club against Weston-super-Mare to help his club win the William Younger Cup at Lord's.
Patel joined Staffordshire for the 1988 season, and enjoyed reasonable success. He remained with them until 1990 (though he played only one game that last year), then in 1992 he moved to Herefordshire as well as being picked for an England Amateur XI team that played two games against Ireland and Scotland. He played no games for Herefordshire in 1993 due to a career threatening back problem, and then returned in 1994 and went on to represent Herefordshire until 2011. He played more than 100 Championship matches for the county a career spanning 19 years. Perhaps his most notable achievement came in 2001, when his man-of-the-match-winning innings of 68, part of a 129-run opening stand with Nathan Round, gained Herefordshire a three-wicket win over Middlesex in the C&G Trophy at Kingsland.
He is the cousin of New Zealand Test player Dipak Patel, who had a considerably longer county career with Worcestershire.