Jeetan Patel is one of a trio of New Zealanders on the England coaching staff plotting Ashes success Down Under this year but first they will be looking to take down the country they once proudly represented.
Patel, who has coached England’s spin bowlers since 2019, was joined more recently by former seamer Tim Southee in the staff of their former Black Caps teammate, head coach Brendon McCullum.
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They will be guiding England in three Twenty20s and three one-day internationals against New Zealand before crossing the Tasman Sea to try and wrest the Ashes urn out of the grip of the Australians.
“It’s good at the moment,” former spinner Patel said in Christchurch ahead of Saturday’s first T20.
“We’ve got a good little buzz amongst the coaching staff and to be fair, amongst the group. They’re so excited to be here, but then also about what’s coming up in the not too distant future.”
Patel, who played 78 times for New Zealand in all formats from 2005 to 2017, said England would be wary of the strength of the Black Caps on home soil, despite their hosts going down 2-0 to Australia in a recent T20 series.
“They’re very good at home,” he said. “I know they’ve just hosted Aussie and it hasn’t gone as well as they would have liked but … their record is amazing here, and they’re in transition, so they’re very dangerous.”
The 45-year-old, who now lives in England, said he was probably not going to be able to offer much in the way of inside knowledge to his English charges. “Let’s be honest, a lot’s changed since Brendon and I played, but Tim’s probably got a bit more for us,” he added.
“But we know that they’re good wickets here. We know that they’re good-sized boundaries to score lots of runs on. It’s gonna be challenging for everyone, but it’ll be fun.”
England, captained in short formats by Harry Brook, play T20s at Hagley Oval on October 18 and 20 before the third match at Auckland’s Eden Park on October 23.
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They also play one-day internationals in Tauranga, Hamilton and Wellington in late October and early November before the Ashes series opens in Perth.
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