Postskevin-pietersen
« Previous EntriesEngland’s torpor
By Jonathan Liew 2 months ago, 4 Comments »
It’s not just the long tail. But it is, to a large degree, the long tail.
When you’ve got Sidebottom, Hoggard, Harmison and Panesar propping the team up, the opposition know that six wickets are as good as ten. But England - and this is the thing - also know this. They know that if the top order doesn’t score the runs, it’s unlikely anybody else will.
And so they dig in. But this doesn’t actually help, as it’s not their natural game (with the possible exceptions of Bell and Collingwood). Pietersen nudging and blocking is half the player he is when he’s trying to score off every ball. As a result, I reckon, they’re not staying in any longer than usual, and of course they’re scoring a lot fewer.
In England’s first innings Vaughan faced 177 balls, Pietersen 131 and Collingwood 182. That should have been enough for a century for each of them.*
The lower order needs strengthening, and fast. Broad for Harmison seems to be the logical step.
*Pietersen’s ten Test centuries have come off an average of 130.5 balls. Only twice has he faced as many as 131 balls and not made a hundred.
4 Comments »England aren’t kidding anyone
By Will 2 months ago, 5 Comments »
Judging by the way England’s batsmen pottered and tottered today, it’s clear their self belief has reached a depressing new low. Even Kevin Pietersen, for all his bravado in saying his 131-ball 42 was “one of his best innings”, struggled more than I can ever remember and New Zealand’s patience paid off. They nagged and nagged and waited and waited and each England batsman succumbed. Daniel Vettori bowled beautifully - and I’ve always rated Jeetan Patel, who looks like he belongs in Test cricket - but rare was the sight of a spitting delivery off a length. It was all about patience. New Zealand had plenty, England none. Their brand of aggressive Australian-style batsmanship, born in their successful run-up to the 2005 Ashes, is so utterly misplaced nowadays that when they encounter a low-and-slow surface, they have no answer other than to block.
Patrick Kidd wondered the other day what England’s lineup might be for next year’s Ashes, but I’m rather more concerned with the selection dilemma they face for New Zealand’s return trip here next month.
5 Comments »Pietersen joins North Maidenhead
By Will 3 months ago, 1 Comment »
I saw that headline - Pietersen joins North Maidenhead - and wondered if KP had lost his mind, retired from internationals and joined my old club. Alas not, but it’s quite a coup to sign Charl Pietersen and it’s a cracking pitch…
1 Comment »Kevin Pietersen graces front cover of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack
By Will 3 months ago, 8 Comments »
Scyld Berry, editing this year’s Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack in place of Matthew Engel, has chosen Kevin Pietersen for the front cover:
It’s released on April 7 and you can pre-order it now
Pietersen c Sangakkara b Vaas 1
By Will last year, mid-December, 6 Comments »
Oh how simple it sounds.
Pietersen c Sangakkara b Vaas 1
Alas, it is anything but - and the media (yes, I know I’m part of it, but I can still comment) might be making a meal of it in the coming 24 hours. For those of you who didn’t see it, this is what happened:
| 60.3 | Vaas to Pietersen, OUT, and the plan has worked, it’s a brilliant piece of work at slip, but wait, there’s controversy. Pietersen went for a drive at a wide ball, nicked to the third slip, Silva, who dived to his left and grabbed the catch low to the turf, it bobbles up and Sangakkara comes from first slip to take the rebound. Pietersen waits as the umpires consult, Harper raises his finger, but TV replays show the ball appears to have brushed the ground before the initial take by Silva. Pietersen waits inside the boundary, as he did at Lord’s earlier this year against India, but there’s no overturning this decision and he’s off |
Clarification from Andrew Miller:
The difference between the two incidents is that at Lord’s there wasn’t an original agreement between the umpires on Dhoni’s catch, it was given immediately by Simon Taufel. However, in Colombo the umpires conferred before deciding Pietersen was out and the laws state that the third official can only be used if the view of the on-field umpires is obstructed.
This is clearly bullshit and the law needs amending immediately. Like many, I still hanker after the good old days when video replays were rare and pretty inconclusive, but cricket must move with the times and we can’t have this middle-ground where technology is used sparingly. It’s making the sport look pretty damn stupid.
Your thoughts? Vote on the right-hand-side of the site, too.
Should the third umpire be consulted more often?
- Yes, for all decisions in which the on-field officials are unsure (49%, 25 Votes)
- Yes, but not for all decisions (22%, 11 Votes)
- Replace the umpires with robots and Noel Edmonds (20%, 10 Votes)
- No, leave it as it is (10%, 5 Votes)
Total Voters: 51
Loading …Harmison the iPod
By Will last year, at the start of December, 6 Comments »
Great line from KingCricket on Steve Harmison:
We see and agree with the reasons for omitting Steve Harmison, but it does underline why we like him. You can’t pick a guy whose bowling line is set to ’shuffle’, but he’s resolutely not an English seam bowler. He’s 12 feet tall and he bowls quickly. It’s not that he’s capable of bowling quickly, it’s that he just does it. It’s his natural speed. In Sri Lankan conditions the ‘effort ball’ is pretty much an impossibility. Effortless speed is the only option.
Talking of nothing at all, I was pondering some songs which might accompany cricketers to and from the crease (Twenty20 style) the other day. I didn’t very far - The Police with So Lonely for the trudge back to the pavilion was an early idea though. What might England’s team have on their iPods, I wonder?
Update: AC/DC’s Shake Your Foundation for Adam Gilchrist. And possibly the theme tune to The Archers for Kevin Pietersen, in a “I’m more English than thou” sort of statement.
KP loves the boss
By Will last year, mid-November, 4 Comments »
This isn’t some sort of lurid sexual expose about Pietersen and Vaughan, or Pietersen and anyone in fact. No. Today the ECB announced, with no trumpeting whatsoever, that Hugo Boss are to re-sponsor England. No trumpeting, but plenty of capital letters *. I’ve highlighted some of them for you for fun, because you all know how much I love pour grammer.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has today announced that
HUGO BOSS Clothing is to become the Official Formal Wear Supplier to the England Cricket Team. The two-year contract is in addition to an
existing partnership the ECB has with BOSS Fragrances and Skincare
(the Official Fragrance and Skincare partner of the England Cricket
Team and ECB) which has now been extended until September 2009.
The best bit though came from Kevin Pietersen who said:
Kevin Pietersen, England batsman, is a big fan of the Boss range of
products: “I love the Boss range of grooming products and use Boss
Skin refreshing face wash on a daily basis. When I’m playing cricket I
apply Boss Skin Revitalizing moisturizer with SPF 15 to help protect
against sun damage. At night I use the Boss Skin Moisture Gel.”
* Silly joke alert: What’s the capital of France? F.
(see previous Hugo Boss sponsorship photo, last year)
4 Comments »Is 50 the new 40?
By Will last year, at the end of July, 18 Comments »
My colleague and I were watching Kevin Pietersen crash his way to yet another hundred today when a thought popped into my head. Is the new benchmark for batsman to average 50, rather than 40 as it was a decade ago? He disagreed so we settled on the conclusion that, to be considered a “pretty damn good” batsman you’ll be averaging 45 as a minimum.
And it got us thinking back to the dark old days in the 1990s when none (Alec Stewart apart, briefly, I think) of England’s top-order averaged 40, while some lurked in the dismal gloom of the low-thirties. But these days, they’re all over 40 and two - Matt Prior and Kevin Pietersen - are averaging over 50.
On a similar line, if batsmen’s averages are increasing - and I have no evidence with which to support this claim as I’m rambling like a loon - are bowlers’ also inflating? A decade ago, a really decent bowler was said to be averaging under 25. But with batsmen enjoying such shorter boundaries, and the game’s frenetic pace spiralling upwards with each year, is 30 the new 25?
Thoughts welcome.
18 Comments »Too highly rated?
By Ian last year, mid-July, 8 Comments »
I see Kevin Pietersen has been knocked off the top spot in the ODIs by Ricky Ponting. Very difficult to argue with that – Ponting is surely the stand out batsman in both forms of the game. Looking at the other batting rankings, it is difficult to find fault, although on current form, Shiv Chanderpaul ought to be in the test top three at least. Also, I struggle to understand how Mahela Jayawardene doesn’t break into either top ten, while Hussey retains a top five place in both. He’s very good, granted, but is he top five?
The bowlers are altogether more perplexing. For one, how can Shoaib Akhtar still be at number 10 in tests? He’s played four tests since the start of 2006 and taken only a handful of wickets. Maybe in the current game, not playing is the way to climb the rankings. Likewise, Jason Gillespie (22) is still deemed a better Test bowler than Lasith Malinga (28)!
Agreed, it must be difficult to devise a workable system. Also, stats don’t tell the full story. But things start to look decidedly suspect when you inspect the Best Ever Ratings, which is a list of players at their peak. Ponting at four is just about fair enough, given his recent dominance. However, Peter May above Viv Richards shows a flaw, while Matthew Hayden in the top ten is just crazy. KP (21) is one place higher than Sachin and two places higher than Wally Hammond. Enough said.
For the bowlers, I half expected to see the list packed high with bowlers of yesteryear, given how modern bowlers are meant to have struggled, but it does put Murali, McGrath, Pollock, Waqar and Warne in the top 15. Of course, Warne should be in the top three, if not top of the pile. Wasim Akram limps in at number 57 behind the likes of Ntini, Shoaib and Harmison, which doesn’t seem right.
That said, like most critics, I can’t think of a better way. There must be some bright spark at Cricinfo with a formula….?
8 Comments »The war of bling tossers
By Will last year, at the end of June, No Comments; be the first!
From Lawrence Booth’s Spin:
No Comments »But the Spin is concerned that cricket-lovers the world over are about to be deprived of the richest chapter yet in the - for some reason - unwritten history of tossing. Because if England plump for Paul Collingwood ahead of Kevin Pietersen to lead their one-day side, it means we will have to foresake the dream pairing of Pietersen and Chris Gayle. Imagine the fun. The toss would never take place on time, the coin would get lost in all the bling, and the polite handshake would degenerate into an orgy of fist-pumping and high-fives. It’s high time the England and Wales Cricket Board saw sense.
Bravo that man
By Will last year, mid-June, 6 Comments »
Dwayne Bravo sounds more like a name of an American basketball player than a West Indian cricketer. And if this tour amounts to nothing more than a disaster in terms of results, at least the team has Dwayne and his heroics. This guy is seriously good and nothing less than entertaining to watch.
He is cocky and boastful. He bounced Kevin Pietersen, knocking his helmet off, then sprinted down the pitch in a mad celebration - completely disregarding Pietersen who might well have been injured. “Who cares?!” Bravo might’ve thought. “I’ve just dismissed one of the world’s very best batsmen”. One who, incidentally, then claimed he had “never been hit on the head before”, a statement which I think might well be a load of balderdash.
Watching him bat today was a fascinating experience. Owing to yet another damned delay due to rain, Sky were showing us highlights of the 1993-94 tour - the tour which first sparked my love of the game, as I’ve said far too many times - containing West Indian batsmanship of true Caribbean flair. Their opponents, England, were a mishmash of talent: immensely gifted batsmen with mental flaws, brought up in an equally flawed county system. England rarely took the attack to West Indies. It was all about grafting and grinding.
Fast forward 13 years and how things have changed. Two West Indian batsman - Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul - battling it out as though their lives depended on it (their livlihoods probably do, but that’s a matter for another day). Battling it out like Atherton once did. And they did it brilliantly. Bravo to both of them, but particularly to Dwayne. He’s young and gifted and wants to succeed, badly. You can’t say that about many of his peers.
Incidentally, on comms today I nearly wrote “Barov” instead of Bravo. I told the readers this:
I nearly called Bravo “Barov” just then. Barov being Dwayne’s Russian cousin of course
A bored feedbacker wrote in to accuse me of being racist. Have the general public completely lost their sense of humour now?
6 Comments »Video of Kevin Pietersen…playing golf?
By Will last year, mid-June, 5 Comments »
A colleague sent this to me today and it is required viewing. Sky Sports’ advert for the US Open, featuring Kevin Pietersen. If you can’t see the video below, try here.
5 Comments »Video of Kevin Pietersen losing his helmet
By Will last year, mid-June, 5 Comments »
Dwayne Bravo dismissed Kevin Pietersen yesterday, hit wicket, when a bouncer zeroed in on his head, smashing his helmet off which then landed on his stumps. Here’s the video.
Fascinating to see Bravo’s euphoric celebration while Pietersen stands there, stunned and shocked.
5 Comments »Overshadowing The Ego
By Will last year, at the end of May, 2 Comments »
© Getty ImagesKevin Pietersen whacked his fastest Test hundred today and yet was overshadowed by someone who was once described by Ian Chappell [1] as the most unlikely of Test batsman. More of an accountant - a bookish, slightly nerdy character. It was Michael Vaughan, then storming Australia during his epic series.
And at last today, he returned. The old cover-drive was there, complete with swashbuckling follow-through. It was a slick innings against some of the most inept, friendly bowling imaginable, on a friendly Headingley pitch under clear skies. The conditions and situation were tailor-made for him and he took full advantage. Even his favoured pull stroke was there…though he timed one of them rather too well, falling straight down Morton’s throat.
It just reminded me of what an audacious, brilliantly talented batsman he once was, but also what he could still be capable of. He said before this Test that he felt as though he was making his debut today and, that being the case, let’s hope he’ll be just as successful as England’s other recent debutants - Alastair Cook and Matt Prior to name two. If the knees survive - and let’s be honest, if they don’t, it’ll probably end his career in a hurry - there’s no reason why he can’t dominate bowling like he did four years ago.
Meanwhile Andrew Strauss, the Middlesex legend, is under a wee bit of pressure. Needs big runs, quickly.
[1] I think it was Chappell.
2 Comments »Kevin Pietersen’s hundred against West Indies
By Will last year, mid-May, 3 Comments »
© Getty Images
Another quite brilliant innings. He is one of the most expert pacers of an innings I have seen; to watch him build the foundation in his first fifty, then explode during the second, was quite special. But what made it even more special was yet another confrontation with the opposition, this time with Chris Gayle.
Things were getting seriously heated, for no apparent reason. It went on for a good hour or hour-and-a-half, with Gayle chirping from the slips and Pietersen giving it back at the end of each over. There were shoulder barges, glaring, swearing, petulance from the bowler, daring-do from the batsman. Inside this Test, an entirely separate and very personal battle was taking place.
Aptly, Pietersen eventually fell to Gayle. They smiled, shook hands, and off he went. They may not be best mates, but they were big enough to acknowledge one another’s performance and not let their disagreement become bigger than the game. It was cricket at its most compelling.
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