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kevin-pietersen
Batsman in good press shock
By Rich Abbott Sunday, last week, 2 Comments »
A slightly edited extract from Mike Atherton’s Bangladesh tour diary:
As the formal practice ends, Player x remains in the nets batting against a posse of local bowlers, none aged more than twenty. A lovely ten minutes follows: Player x engages with them fully, asking them what fields they would have and they set him a stiff target to chase. He hits some massive sixes but just fails in his task which brings great joy to the bowlers. At the end, he shakes their hands, signs autographs and poses for photos.
Guess who Player x is? It’s not England’s all-round good guy Paul Collingwood, nor is it old-friend Freddie Flintoff popping in to visit his chums – it’s Kevin Pietersen, revealing a side to him rarely documented. Atherton goes on:
Pietersen has been the subject of many unflattering portraits in England, but I have always found him to be unfailingly polite and respectful and well-mannered.
Having seen him operate at close quarters on the South Africa tour, Atherton’s KP portrait sounds familiar. In my limited experience, Pietersen seemed hard-working, polite and obliging to fans – and that whilst struggling for form in a country in which he’s vilified.
2 Comments »“I don’t let spinners bowl to me” – Pietersen, 2006
By Will Monday, last week, 5 Comments »
“I don’t let spinners bowl to me,” Pietersen said bluntly. “I feel a little bit sorry for the little kid who bowled today but that’s just how I play spinners.”
That was Kevin Pietersen, three years ago to the day after bashing young Piyush Chawla to all parts at Mohali. The 2006 vintage of Pietersen was a fizzy bottle of tangy arrogance, the sort of confidence which overflows so quickly and without pause that he won admirers as quickly as he did enemies. It was difficult to warm to him as a person, but you couldn’t deny that he talked a good game and played an even better one. “Is this bloke for real?” was invariably met with “shit. I think he really is. Thank you, South Africa. Thank you so much. Got any more like him?”
Three years on and the foundation of his arrogance – his ability; his runs – has deserted him. Mediocre spinners are licking their lips; his bat isn’t coming down straight and where is the audacity, the skip down the pitch and the arrogant follow-through?
“I don’t let spinners bowl to me,” he said three years ago. What happened, Kev? Perhaps it’s time he opened the batting: the only safe position for him.
5 Comments »KP’s quest for form and Bangladeshi enthusiasm
By Rich Abbott Friday, 2 weeks ago, 2 Comments »
It’s the innings break at Chittagong, and for a dead-rubber against a team England have never lost to, the third and final ODI against Bangladesh has plenty to recommend it. Indeed, enough to persuade me to drag a duvet down to the living room at 3:00 this morning, though sadly that owes as much to a heady mixture of jet-lag and unemployment as it does possible on-pitch excitement.
Still, a potential eruption from mount Kieswetter, an ODI debut for Ajmal Shahzad, another chance for England’s pace-men to work out how to be threatening on the sub-continent and the continuation of Alastair Cook’s captaincy internship, awaited. Not to mention another chance to assess a certain number three batsman.
And so to the much-talked-about, uber-complicated, arguably-misunderstood, out-of-form elephant at the crease. Kevin Pietersen made a scratchy 22, before being pinned lbw by his chief poacher – a slow left-armer. He still hasn’t scored over 50 in an ODI since 2008, and this morning’s effort was not the corner-turn I’d hoped for as I stumbled out of bed to the news that England were batting first.
There will be calls for his head. But the opportunities left on this tour are few as it is, and cutting them further would be counter-productive. Providing he’s picked for the Tests, it’s possible that Pietersen only has three innings left this tour: a warm-up match and a couple of Test innings (batting twice is no guarantee in Tests against Bangladesh). Pietersen needs those innings, and if his recent form has hardly earned them, his first four years in an England shirt did.
A man who deserves a pat on the back, rather than an arm round the shoulder, is Craig Kieswetter. 107 in only his third ODI confirms many a suspicion about him. The contrasting travails of these two adopted Englishmen has added interest to a highly-watchable series, which on paper may have seemed anything but.
So too has the opposition. Allied to England’s unanswered questions was a final reason to disobey my body and heed my early alarm call: I like watching Bangladesh. Like many an Englishman, I’ve had a soft spot for them since 18th June 2005, and can’t help admiring the way that they’ve dealt with numerous setbacks and frequent defeat since then. They rattle through the overs at the rate everyone is supposed to, boast one of the world’s leading players, clearly enjoy what they’re doing and are getting pretty good at it. The home crowd is endearingly enthusiastic, to the point where they sometimes appear to be watching a different game. Local boy Tamim Iqbal raised the roof every time he so much as sneezed this morning.
I haven’t seen Afghanistan play cricket, so am in no position to comment on them, but it seems that they possess unbridled enthusiasm and no little skill. Despite gaping weaknesses, the same can be said of Bangladesh, and they’re getting better. The test for Afghanistan will be to see if, after a few inevitable thumpings at the top table of international cricket, they can maintain the same positive approach shown this series by Bangladesh.
2 Comments »KP, Fred; talent, love, respect
By Will 2 months ago, No Comments; be the first!
Great piece from Andrew Miller on the differences in public perception of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff.
No Comments »Yet Pietersen’s devotion to excellence is the very same attribute that alienates him from a fickle British public. From the days of Henry Cooper through to Eddie the Eagle and Frank Bruno, plucky and personable underdogs have always trumped sportsmen with genuine claims to greatness.
“It is peculiar how Pietersen is portrayed,” says a media colleague who has worked with him at close quarters. “He claims not to read the papers but that is definitely not the case. He takes criticism very personally and he is certainly not happy about it. I suspect the South African link will never allow him to be the Freddie-esque man of the people he so craves to be.”
According to Paul Burnham, founder of the Flintoff-worshipping Barmy Army, Pietersen’s persona is a direct challenge, for better or worse, to everything that British sports fans hold dear. “At the moment we are what we are as a culture. Personally I love it and wouldn’t want to change it, even though it isn’t what you want if you want to win all the time,” he says. “Freddie is old school and England’s fans can relate to that, whereas Pietersen is probably the most misunderstood cricketer there is. He’s got a really friendly personality but for some reason people don’t like his body language. He exudes confidence but it comes across as arrogance.”
“I think Fred comes across exactly the same as me,” says Gough. “He’s a bit of a joker who likes a drink and he plays his cricket in the right spirit. KP is slightly different. He’d take a wine bar over a pub any day, and that’s not a knock at him. He just enjoys that buzz and that edge about being a top-class sportsman. But because he wasn’t brought up in this country he still doesn’t quite understand how things work and how people look upon celebrities. It can be a difficult place if you make it a difficult place.”
N Hussain b Pietersen, 103…
By Rich Abbott last year, at the end of December, No Comments; be the first!
The scorecard from the last match, before today, involving both England and Kevin Pietersen at Kingsmead, Durban. Described by KP in his autobiography as “the biggest match of my life up until that point”, his four wickets and 61 not out put him on the England radar. Five years later he made his international debut.
No Comments »Cricket in a new light
By Will last year, at the end of October, No Comments; be the first!
I won’t deny that leaving Cricinfo’s brilliant editorial team was a difficult decision, nor that it has been an odd experience to now be a user rather than someone actively involved in the writing. My role now, among others, is to help all ESPN’s sites become even better from a production side of things – such as their ranking and prominence in Google and co. (SEO, for those in the know, is one of my main tasks), as well as using social media to market the sites and engage with our mostly very loyal readers.
So, my personal relationship with Cricinfo has changed, and it’s only since leaving that I’ve really realised just how much cricket there is. That’s not entirely true, though: it was obvious that the quantity played was increasing year on year as we had more and more matches to cover live. But now, when I look at the site as a fan, it’s abundantly clear that there is too much being played, and I honestly don’t know how it – cricket the business; cricket the enterprise, if not cricket the sport – can be sustained.
I’ve quite enjoyed the Champions League from what little I’ve seen. Domestic teams from all over the world taking on eachother is great entertainment, but feels like the last dregs of water being wrung from a twisted flannel. There seem to be no gaps between series, each of them spilling over one another, blending seamlessly into one, sometimes hellish, melee. The distinction between seasons no longer seems to matter. Teams touring England arrive earlier and leave later, exposing the authorities and players to the haphazard early and late summer weather which often curtails play and keeps spectators at bay. Television rules the roost. Day-night Tests will happen soon, and solely to drive up yet more revenue because the authorities believe more people will come through the turnstiles after work. They may be right, too.
Even Kevin Pietersen, the thoroughbred sportsman and athlete, has admitted that his time out through injury has been a blessing in disguise.
He, in fact, is an interesting case in point. It was only four years ago that he made his debut, and with it came the skunk haircut, the bombastic interviews, the unquenchable thirst to prove people wrong; the outrageous talent and desperation to succeed (and to be loved by his adopted country). Before his injury, however, there was a jadedness to his personality, a tired and sullen look from a player who’d leap like an idiot whenever he reached three figures. Is that maturity? Perhaps. The injury certainly quelled his enthusiasm. But he’d lost something – that zip, and sparkle. The comparisons with Viv Richards, which seemed increasingly apt two seasons ago, now sounded as foolish and reckless as some of his strokeplay had become.
It wasn’t long ago that the big series – India v Australia, for example – were anticipated months in advance. We’d mark it on our calendars, check the TV listings and, on the day itself, remain glued to Cricinfo to see how it panned out. Now, though, there is no time for a build-up: series jostle against one another like sardines in a tin. And the players themselves, well, some of them burn out, most pick up an injury or two (a blessed relief in some cases), and the fans too are left exhausted and disinterested.
India and Australia are about to play another of those ridiculously extended seven-match series. It ought to be wonderful entertainment, but it comes mere days after the Champions League Twenty20, a series which hasn’t attracted the crowds the organisers expected. Here’s what Siddarth Monga has to say:
Three Australian players, representing New South Wales in the Champions League, will reach Vadodara on Saturday afternoon, having finished their final late Friday night and travelled about 1100 km north-west, and start a match at 9.00 am on Sunday. That could have been the fate of three more Australians, had Victoria won their semi-final, or of a couple of Indians had one of the IPL teams made it that far.
All this cricket is great for us, of course. Cricinfo’s traffic continues to soar as more and more people rely on the internet as a natural source of entertainment, not just a luxury for office workers. And while this series will doubtless have plenty of intrigue and entertainment, it seems implausible that come the seventh match we won’t be exhausted or bored by the whole thing, beginning yet another inquest into the future of 50-over cricket and the quantity being played.
No Comments »Pietersen out of the Ashes
By Will last year, at the end of July, 8 Comments »
Flippety hell. “Big game” Ian Bell, come on down.
8 Comments »Kevin, Kevin, Kevin
By Will last year, mid-July, 8 Comments »
All set to dominate the day, Kevin Pietersen undid all his hard work with a stroke of immaturity, haphazard haplessness and idiocy against the might of Nathan Hauritz. In isolation, the moment mirrors his career as a whole. All set to dominate the world, having cleared the path to greatness, he lets himself down.
It’s happened before, several times in the winter against Benn, and his dismissive attitude to spinners whose surnames are not Warne is fast acting as the hurdle that prevents Pietersen reaching the goal many assumed was pre-determined for him. Fate alone will see him be considered as a great, we thought. He invents new shots and switch-hits Muttiah Muralitharan for six like a left-hander. He struts like a great, he trains like a maniac hungry for more. He is very nearly a great.
But no. As long as he plays crass shots against mediocre spinners, Pietersen will only ever be considered merely excellent; a ravishing entertainer, a renegade sportsman. Or will this latest foray into brainlessness inspire him to make amends and ensure he hits brilliant hundred after brilliant hundred?
8 Comments »Kevin Pietersen’s Ferrari
By Will last year, at the end of May, 6 Comments »
Here’s the great man in an even greater car. But which model? Answers on a postcard, or in a comment.
He flogged his Porsche 911 a couple of years ago. Wise choice, whatever this Ferrari’s model is.
6 Comments »End of our tether
By Richard Seeckts last year, at the start of April, 5 Comments »
Hands up who is fed up with hearing about the frayed end of Kevin Pietersen’s tether. To make a fool of oneself in one interview may be regarded as a misfortune, to do so in two, three, four or more looks like carelessness.
So desperate for home is KP that he will be going straight there (to South Africa) to collect his IPL lucre a few days after returning to England this weekend. The heart bleeds; to be paid handsomely for playing cricket in sunny places while adoring fans cheer him to the rafters on his way to another suicidal dismissal in the nineties must be a life of sheer misery.
Pietersen moaned his way out of South African cricket, fought his way out of Nottinghamshire, bleated about burn out due to the hectic international schedule, caused havoc through his battle with Peter Moores and destabilised the tour of the West Indies. It’s all too much for him, right up until the IPL comes along with its money for jam.
The man’s cricketing talent is not in question, but he’s mighty hard to please and getting even harder to like. Folk with (or without) real jobs in a real recession are not feeling too sorry for him. And we’ve had enough of the mantra about being “absolutely 100% passionate about playing for England”. Stop talking and prove it with the bat, Mr Pietersen.
5 Comments »It’s not getting any better
By Mark Tilley last year, at the end of March, 5 Comments »
My goodness me, England truly are appalling at one day cricket.
Check today’s current scorecard for further evidence. Kevin Pietersen’s ‘mental fatigue’ comments this morning can only add to the wretchedness of what has so far been a miserable tour. I don’t think we’re reaching the cavernous lows of Australia in 2006 but Andrew Strauss and his men are not a really happy bunch at present.
This is where Strauss’ captaincy will be really pushed to the limit; that Guyana century aside, Strauss doesn’t look like he suits the one day side. He’s currently leading a weary bunch of unhappy and beleaguered cricketers and it’s up to him to lift them, somehow.
Pietersen’s admission that he “really and truly, can’t wait to get home” only serves to exacerbate the dark mood surrounding the England camp. It’s going to require a big, big performance to arrest this slide and I honestly don’t know where that performance is going to come from at present. How’s that for a defeatist attidude?
I’d rather watch Daniel Vettori perform minor miracles for New Zealand in their struggle with India.
5 Comments »Strauss the captain
By Mark Tilley last year, at the end of February, 2 Comments »
‘I am the master of my destiny; I am the captain of my soul.’
I wonder if, by any chance, Andrew Strauss is a fan of William Ernest Henley? His above quote is entirely appropriate for the England captain. His sublime, bold innings of 142 on the first day of the Fourth Test wasn’t merely a sole brilliant innings, drifting alone in a sea of low scores. It was his second big hundred of the series following on from that majestic 169 in Antigua. Both innings have come just after his captaincy of the side has been announced – a coincidence? Not on your life.
Strauss’ world class form is fundamentally linked to him being appointed captain. When in charge of the team, he is as confident as the gargantuan slog sweep for six that brought up his hundred in Barbados. The Jamaica debacle aside, Strauss has been quite brilliant with the bat this series and it follows his twin centuries in Chennai earlier this winter, made in much trickier conditions. Yes, the pitches so far this series may be as flat and as batsman friendly as your local village green but take nothing away from Strauss. His batting is ridiculously formidable at the moment and will hopefully tide over into that small matter of the Ashes later this summer.
It is not the first time Strauss’ batting and his captaincy have had a concurrent relationship. Way back in the heady days of 2006, when Monty Panesar was still a hugely promising young bowler, running rings round the Pakistani batsmen, Strauss was made captain in Andrew Flintoff’s enforced absence. He duly cracked two counter attacking second innings hundreds in the series and helped himself to as much acclaim from as many quarters as possible. He even wedged himself into contention to captain that winter’s Ashes series down under; he lost out to Andrew Flintoff and we all know what happened there.
Strauss’ form dipped dramatically from that moment on, likely as a result of his casting aside from the England selectors. He had a poor Ashes series, registering only one score of over fifty in the drubbing at Melbourne and proceeded to be equally as profligate in the home series with the West Indies and India. Without a Test hundred since that Pakistan series, he was dropped for the series in Sri Lanka, where England took something of a pasting, and managed to scrap his way back onto the tour of New Zealand. He hit a staggeringly huge hundred, although he was hardly at his convincing best and then reinforced his position with some sporadically good performances over that following summer. All of which has led to the Strauss that we now find ourselves with.
Strauss isn’t the only man to see his batting flourish in the role of captain. Many lament Flintoff’s captaincy and his form during the brief and painful time he was in charge but perhaps those critics forget his first few Tests in charge. Four consecutive fifties in four innings in India helped England to a famous draw, immediately after he was tossed into the breach as captain. It is noteworthy that his bowling also earned him a whole dictionaries worth of superlatives.
And who can forget Kevin Pietersen’s hundred at the Oval last summer in his first game as captain? There were concerns that the leadership of the side would hinder his explosive style of batting but Pietersen combined attacking flamboyance with restrained defence to score a wonderful century (before getting out next ball). He also weighed in with a supreme 144 in India this winter, even finding the time to unveil his unique switch hitting abilities.
Captaincy of a side can drive a man to great things. One needs only observe Ricky Ponting’s single minded determination to win back the Ashes in 2006. Ponting, found liable by many an Australian media outlet for the defeat in the 2005 Ashes, embodied a man possessed as he scored a massive volume of runs, crushing English spirit and hopes and showing his own side the way forward. His 196 in Brisbane was a master class of batting and a pure example of a captain showing his team what is possible. And don’t forget Graeme Smith’s courageous, match-winning 154 not out at Edgbaston against England last summer. Here was a man and a captain so determined to win a game and a series for his nation that he closed his mind to the possibility of getting out or anything else and just batted and batted and batted.
Strauss’ performances so far as captain have only served to reinforce the theory that his batting form is inextricably linked with the captaincy. Maybe it is just an ego thing, a man desperate for his name to be up in lights. Or maybe it’s just a man charged with representing and leading his country by example. Maybe it’s the responsibility that sits so well with Strauss – the need to back up his position with good scores and the desire to not have his authority or his place undermined. Either way, it’s extremely refreshing to see Strauss in such good form and providing there are no more dramas regarding English captaincy between now and July, then he could be in the best possible position to perform his own version of Ponting’s 2006 heroics and seriously murder some inexperienced Australian bowling. Here’s hoping the rest of the team can follow the example.
2 Comments »Bouncebackability
By Mark Tilley last year, mid-February, 1 Comment »
It was football manager Iain Dowie who first coined this term, way back when his Crystal Palace side were struggling in the English Premier League. The phrase refers to a teams ability to bounce back from a defeat or any kind of adversity. Well, this England cricket side have suffered said adversity and then some. How do they respond to the humiliation of last week’s 51 all out?
The expected change has come. Owais Shah replaces Ian Bell at number three in the order and Steve Harmison has also been left out, in favour of James Anderson. Will it make the difference that England need? Shah’s inclusion has been long championed by England fans and pundits alike. It is perhaps a tad harsh on Harmison who didn’t bowl terribly badly in Jamaica but perhaps the feeling was that a change was needed.
The outfield is a concern in Antigua. Heavy rainfall has left area’s of the ground covered in sand and the bowlers run up, in particular, is an point of worry. However, England shouldn’t use the conditions as an excuse. They have a lot of making up to do and they had better start it soon. Alistair Cook could do with a big score to settle the doubters about him and if Kevin Pietersen should find himself in the late 90’s again, surely he will be looking for singles this time.
All in all, it looks like a fascinating Test. A nerve-wracking one too, if you’re an England follower.
1 Comment »Flintoff and KP record-breaking millionaires
By Will last year, at the start of February, 10 Comments »
Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen have both broken the IPL record, each netting a cool US$1.55million. Holy moly.
Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood were sold for a frankly pathetic $US275,000 while Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara remain unsold, unwanted – the runts of this latest litter of shame.
So Hampshire and Lancashire will both be getting US$155,000 for Pietersen and Flintoff’s involvement in the IPL – a factor which the players are a bit peeved about. But, still, England’s most marketable and successful players can nevertheless eye up a new house, or car. Or a farm perhaps. Small off-licence selling cheap whiskey, wine gums and sellotape? It’s surprising how people turn to local shops in a recession – these are the things Flintoff and Pietersen will have to consider very carefully in the coming months.
What should they do with their loot? I have a feeling Flintoff’ll be sensible, after drinking 1% of it, whereas Pietersen will invest in a Humvee for tootling around town.
10 Comments »KP ton. Bell non-ton. Shah nearly ton
By Will last year, at the end of January, 3 Comments »
Kevin Pietersen, a man scorned, raced to a blistering hundred today. I say it was blistering purely on statistical evidence, and because all “quickfire” hundreds are either described as blistering, brisk, slick, breathtaking, “fine”, superb, brilliant, chancy, chanceless or sublime. For those who care, sublime is generally reserved for innings made a) at a quick rate and b) by someone naturally elegant. Most of Michael Vaughan’s hundreds before he was made captain were sublime, even when they were probably not.
But I digress. The scorecard for England’s first warm-up, against an Invitational XI, makes for interesting reading, and here’s why:
- Andrew Strauss makes nought. Well, he is the new England captain after all.
- Ian Bell does his best impression of Ian Bell by scoring 36 from 62, an innings neither aggressive or subdued. If innings were animals, this would be a goat with hearing difficulties lost on a moor.
- Kevin Pietersen does his best impression of Kevin Pietersen pre-captaincy. Normal order has resumed.
- Owais Shah, who will replace Bell eventually, creams 80 from 85 (with just one four, curiously).
After the debacle of the past few weeks, at last we can return to analysing and ridiculing England’s cricket and selections.
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