KP bashing has to stop
KP scores 94 runs and shares a 115 run partnership with Collingwood and he gets criticised for getting out for an outrageous shot (not his first in the innings, though) whilst Cook and Bell get out trying to hook the ball (another outrageous shot for the situation) and get 9 and 20 respectively and they hardly get a mention. And considering that Collingwood played a similar shot to KP to get to his hundred where is the notion that he is reckless too?
The KP bashing has to stop. He got England out of a massive hole yesterday and I think is also responsible for some intangible reason for why Collingwood also batted well. KP's innings was no different to the one he played at the Oval in 2005 for which he was lauded for.
But certain ex-Test match players are clamouring for him to be dropped (Derek Pringle) or never be considered for captaincy (Alec Stewart). Either way you demotivate KP, and England risk losing their best batsman.
5 comments:
Disagree totally! I don't think you can compare the dismissals of Cook and Bell with KP's antics. They were both out early on playing legitimate shots that had brought them a lot of recent success (especially Cook, who played the pull-shot superbly in the first innings). Crucially, too, they were both out early on in their innings, trying to get a start in bowler-friendly conditions.
KP's case was totally different - he was already settled and the bowling of Harris et. al. was not causing him any trouble. There's no shame in falling early from time to time, but to get yourself established at a crucial point in the test match and then throw it away playing an expansive array of irresponsible reverse hits and other slogs shows a lack of anything but ego-massaging and personal ambition. He could have batted us to a 300+ lead if he had just played within himself.
Sure, he's our best batsman - but he won't be remembered as a great player if he keeps wasting his potential!
Agree completely with David: Pietersen clearly has talent but no tactical brain and no concept of playing for the team rather than himself.
The difference between the way Pietersen and Smith tried to progress from 94no yesterday is very instructive: Pietersen went for the flamboyant and got himself out, Smith continued steadily past his personal milestone to win his side the game. If Pietersen wants to be considered a great player he must tailor every innings he plays to his side's tactical needs, not to his own personal ego trips.
I'm with you in part Dhiraj. I thought Cook and Bell's shots were ill-advised and should be criticised...particularly Bell. Cook will be really annoyed with himself too as he must have watched video after video of Ntini's bowling and would have known that he needed to pick the right balls to pull given how wide of the crease Ntini bowls from.
I'm not with you about Collingwood on 94 - if he had been nowhere near the pitch and left it to chance whether he middled it (like he did in the 1st Ashes Test in Australia when he was stumped off Warne), then he would have been taking a huge risk. But he got to the pitch to ensure that the risk in the shot was cut down. When they come down the pitch and don't get there they need to be happy to change their shot to a more defensive one.
Pietersen is a great player and, agreed, without him England wouldn't have had a chance. And I agree that he helps Collingwood along - that's why Collingwood should never have moved from 5 in the order.
But that doesn't excuse the rediculous risk taking when England were only about 100 ahead. He didn't seem to be thinking of the team - he needed to play (relatively) risk-free cricket until we were many more in front. His switch hits were even more risky than the shot he got out to - why play a switch hit out of the rough? He forgot himself. He might have been on 94 when he got out but the side were 136 for 4 (effectively), meaning that he had to play more responsibly.
I'm in the Alec Stewart camp - he'd be in my team every time and I'd give him licence to play his shots while quietly and calmly trying to help him with his shot selection behind the scenes. But I wouldn't even consider him for the captaincy under any circumstances until he has improved in adjusting his batting to match circumstances.
Unfortunately for Alec, me and all the club cricketers I played with today, we're all going to be disappointed tomorrow apparently. Someone in the know who told us before the press conference that Vaughan and Collingwood were both resigning, also said that Pietersen is getting both the Test and ODI captaincy tomorrow. It's massively high risk, much like Pietersen's batting - it could just pay off, but the odds are that the England team will implode further and Pietersen's batting could be affected.
Incidentally, I wouldn't worry about what Pringle has to say - anecdotally people are starting to question his opinions....he always takes things a stage too far. For example, the article he wrote on the Wednesday of the last Test targeting Collingwood's selection was somewhat unbalanced....anyone confident in their opinion needs to be able to give the opposite view and let the reader make up their own mind.
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