Coach Langer takes interest in Albany leg-spinner's talent

WA and Perth Scorchers coach Justin Langer had rightfully heard little about Patrick Butler until former WA teammate Jo Angel rang with excitement a fortnight ago.

Working alongside the WA Country squad at the Australian Country Cricket Championships in Mt Gambier, Angel had just witnessed the young Albany-bred leg-spinner bowl WA to a remarkable victory over NSW with 5-58 when he felt compelled to ring the State coach.

Speaking to the Albany Advertiser, Langer said Angel's phone call prompted him to make contact with the 20-year-old leg-spinner, sending him a text of encouragement after his match-winning haul.

"He (Angel) rang me straight after and said to me: 'You've got to see him, get him down' - he was really pumped about it, so we will see what we can do," Langer said.

"When someone like Joey, who is a friend of mine and one of Western Australian cricket greats, rings me and puts in a recommendation, his name will certainly go down as a person of interest, there is no doubt about that, with an eye kept on him in the future.

"I sent him a text like I do with a lot of young guys around Western Australia, give them a bit of encouragement.

"It's amazing, when you give people a bit of encouragement and hope you never know what can happen in the future for them.

"I've said this for the last three years that you have to give hope to all the club cricketers and all the country cricketers."

Butler's stellar championships were capped off with selection in the Australian Country XI after claiming 13 wickets in just his second tour after being sparingly used last year.

The accolades continued this week when he was announced as the winner the Terry "Tuck" Waldron Medal for WA's best player at the tournament as voted by the umpires.

The annual championships have long been a breeding ground for State players and have produced four Australian cricketers in Josh Hazlewood, Michael Bevan, Andy Bichel and Shaun Tait, who was spotted as a 16-year-old playing for South Australia in Albany at the championships in 2000-01.

After starting the season in fourth grade at Midland-Guildford, opportunities for Butler are now expected to increase, with Langer open to inviting him into the WACA's development programs.

"I say this to parents with little kids all the time - the best way to be recognised is to put performances on the board, so if you do that you never know who might see it and on this day Joey Angel was watching and he got straight on the phone to me and again, coming from him, it's a really good recommendation," Langer said.

"If he keeps rising and putting performances on the board, there is no doubt I will get to meet him at some point, it's just how the system works. I don't reckon we tap into the country enough, frankly."