Kevin Pietersen has returned to International Cricket after a fleeting appearance in England’s Twenty20 loss and yesterday’s One-Day warm-up game against South Africa A. It’s a big test of his bouncebackability (Thanks Dowie) at the start of this epic two-and-a-half month England tour of South Africa. But our 'Kev' is expected to be fully fit for the One day Internationals (5 matches) and the proceeding Test Series (4 matches) as England bid to repeat their performance of the last visit to the Proteas four years ago (South Africa 1-2 England in the Test Series), only with more success in the ODIs.
And it's great to have 'the big man' back after an achilles injuries which has hampered him for almost a year; since the Caribbean tour last February. He was supposed to be fit for this year's Ashes Series, but this proved to be a false dawn as he only appeared in the first two tests, and those with clear signs of the injury as he limped during each of his innings.
Perhaps you're thinking; "Hold on a sec. We pretty much won the Ashes without this guy, should you be branding him 'the big man'? I thought only Freddie Flintoff was 'the big man'!" Well, I'm hear to tell you otherwise. I think KP is England's finest cricket player now that Fred is off the scene; and even with FF in the team, I think it's a close call. What's not impressive about Kevin Pietersen's Curriculum Vitae? He averages over 46 in ODI cricket, and is just shy of 50 in Tests; he is currently England's highest ranked One-Day batsman at 17th and is just behind Andrew Strauss in the Test rankings, as he resides in 15th position in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings.
Statistics can perhaps only say so much, but this man has all the attributes to accompany them. He is brilliant. Simply brilliant for English cricket. His attitude is fearsome, his shot-selection is fearless, his mindset is also fearless. I love watching him play, his innings’ are epic battles between egos as much as there are about cricketing technique. But that’s cricket at its finest, a game played in the mind as well as on the well-cut green strip.
And it's great to have 'the big man' back after an achilles injuries which has hampered him for almost a year; since the Caribbean tour last February. He was supposed to be fit for this year's Ashes Series, but this proved to be a false dawn as he only appeared in the first two tests, and those with clear signs of the injury as he limped during each of his innings.
Perhaps you're thinking; "Hold on a sec. We pretty much won the Ashes without this guy, should you be branding him 'the big man'? I thought only Freddie Flintoff was 'the big man'!" Well, I'm hear to tell you otherwise. I think KP is England's finest cricket player now that Fred is off the scene; and even with FF in the team, I think it's a close call. What's not impressive about Kevin Pietersen's Curriculum Vitae? He averages over 46 in ODI cricket, and is just shy of 50 in Tests; he is currently England's highest ranked One-Day batsman at 17th and is just behind Andrew Strauss in the Test rankings, as he resides in 15th position in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings.
Statistics can perhaps only say so much, but this man has all the attributes to accompany them. He is brilliant. Simply brilliant for English cricket. His attitude is fearsome, his shot-selection is fearless, his mindset is also fearless. I love watching him play, his innings’ are epic battles between egos as much as there are about cricketing technique. But that’s cricket at its finest, a game played in the mind as well as on the well-cut green strip.
I think this is Kevin Pietersen's most memmorable innings, a swashbuckling 158 which made the Ashes safe in 2005 with a draw at the Oval. Four and a half years on, KP is now 29 years of age, and with almost a whole year out of the game (on and off), it could take him time to find that best form which makes him the world’s finest architect at the crease. But I’m confident he’ll rediscover it eventually, and I, for one, am glad to see him back in an England shirt and waiting with excitement as the series against South Africa gets underway on Friday.
"He is brilliant. Simply brilliant for English cricket."
ReplyDeleteKevin Pieterson is brilliant for himself. His disgraceful attempt at captaincy, attempting a coup to displace Moores and generally playing for his average instead of trying to win games for England all count against him. I'd argue Strauss is England's finest player - his batting over the last year has been absolutely top-drawer, he's averaging 56.7 as captain and he's guided England from the shambolic state they were in after Pieterson's leadership (remember 56 all out in Jamaica?) to winning an Ashes series.
I, for one, am in trepidation as to what he's going to do next.
http://www.cricinfo.com/wiveng2009/engine/match/352661.html
ReplyDeleteI think you'll find Strauss was captain during that game (it was his first in charge). And it was 51 all out not 56 just to be pedantic. I agree with you that Strauss is the better captain, but I think that's very unfair on Pietersen to say that he plays for the average rather than for England. Despite his South African background, I think he's one of the most passionate players on the pitch for England. An England team without him is seriously weakened. You may not like his personality, but you have to like his productivity.
Strauss was captain during that game but you can hardly claim that as a reflection of his captaincy ability given that Pietersen had just forced most of the players to choose who their allegiance was to, the captain or the coach. Fortunately we had the double act of Strauss (who should have been selected as captain in the first place) and Flower to guide us out of the mire. I'm not questioning his allegiance to England given his South African background but I am questioning the very nature of his personality. Cricket may be the most individual of team games but Pietersen has got out four times in the 90s looking to play an expansive shot to get to his 100. A decision made to glorify himself.
ReplyDeletePieterson needs to watch videos of Trott's hundred at the Oval - a masterclass in pacing an innings from a debutant. Give me Trott, Collingwood or Strauss over Pietersen any day.
Pietersen's 158 at the Oval was extremely similar to Trott's in the final test of this Ashes. I wasnt claiming that Strauss was a bad captain, I believe him to be a good skipper overall.
ReplyDeletePietersen out in the 90s four times - well at least he got to 90 in the first place, and he still has a high conversion rate (16 centuries, 15 fifties) and plays more match-winning innings' than the vast majority of English batsmen (probably all of them). I cant believe you're already a Jon Trott enthusiast. He's played one test match and one ODI. Yes he did well (helped us regain the Ashes - lets not understate the importance of that one test), but as the wise saying goes 'Form is temporary, Class is permanent'. I don't think you can possibly back up the saying that Trott should be preferred to KP based on performance or credentials.
Pietersen has scored a century in a match that England won six times. I reckon that's about par for a player who's played over fifty tests. That doesn't make him a great player and it certainly doesn't make him a match-winner. Trescothick was a match-winner. The number of times he scored a crucial century (especially in ODIs) belies his relatively unimpressive statistics.
ReplyDeleteTrott has less class than Pietersen but a better temperment. Don't forget also that cricket is to be enjoyed, I for one am upset that I will never see a Vaughan cover-drive again but will be forced to watch Pietersen's hardly aestheic swatting.
There's no denying Pieterson's quality; he is a very fine English batsmen but there's no doubt in my mind that Strauss contributes more to the success of the team than the man Kev. As for "Give me Trott, Collingwood or Strauss any day" im afraid KP would certainly be above those first two on my team sheet. He's a world class talent and its up to Flower and Strauss to harness that talent and not let KP run away with himself too much.
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