Warwickshire have lost out in their bid to sign Min Patel.

The 35-year-old left-arm spinner has instead recommitted himself to Kent, the club that he has represented since 1989.

Martin Saggers, the swing bowler who also has talks with officials at Edgbaston, has also re-signed with Kent, though Warwickshire were never more than half-hearted in their pursuit of him.

"It was a bloody difficult decision as I was given the chance to move to a club with a recent history of success and winning trophies," Patel said last night.

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"At this stage of my career I wanted to know whether Kent could be in a position to challenge and I've talked a lot with chairman of cricket Graham Johnson and our chief executive Paul Millman about issues like overseas players and the captaincy.

"Like me, they have ambition and I came away believing we can still achieve something at Kent."

It would be wrong to read too much into Patel's decision. In an ideal world he was always keen to remain at Kent, the club he has represented for half of his life. The cynical might suggest he was simply using Warwickshire as leverage in his Kent contract discussions, though it does appear he did come very close to signing.

Consolation, however, comes in the realisation that his decision may prove beneficial to several young spinners already on the Warwickshire staff.

"It's a disappointment, but we respect his decision," Warwickshire coach Mark Greatbatch said. " We have strengthened in two of the three areas we identified when I started in this role [captain, wicketkeeper and spinner], and we'll now reflect on this before deciding what, if any, action we should take next."

Greatbatch will meet with other members of Warwickshire's cricket committee today to discuss their options, particularly the policy towards overseas players, but it is quite possible they will make no more signings this winter.

"The fact is we are fined by the ECB if we play fewer than nine England-qualified players in our team," Greatbatch said. "Patel would not have incurred any penalty.

"As things stand I'm not too sure whether Heath Streak will be registered as an overseas or Kolpak player. I'm still coming to terms with the full implications of the Kolpak ruling."

If the club do look overseas for another player it is likely to be a spinner. New Zealand left-armer Daniel Vettori remains an ideal candidate. He will be available from mid-May and has the ability to shine at Edgbaston. He is, however, also likely to be of interest to other counties.

Warwickshire are also assessing their coaching staff at present and hope to announce the identity of the second XI coach and academy director within weeks.

"It's all under review at present," Greatbatch said. "But it's important for the kids in the academy that they get some sort of continuity, so if that means I have to take a double workload for a while then so be it."