Kevin Pietersen Is The Boss Of English Cricket
At last, the mercurial and phenomenally talented Kevin Pietersen’s journey is set to cross to the next step with his ascendancy to the throne of English cricket. The South Africa born flamboyant Pietersen has been made the Captain of the Lions after his predecessor Michael Vaughan resigned from the post immediately after loosing the 3rd Test to South Africa.
While Pietersen exuded confidence in his first press conference at Lords, cricket pundits are not convinced about elvating him to the post as yet specially when a cool customer like Andrew Strauss has been such a regular member of the team.
acording to former England captain Mike Atherton, the national selectors and the board have taken a gamble that is not calculated. True, he is currently the best player and sports high profile life. But, his attacking attitude might come in his way to perform his jobs. Atherton also argues that the move might backfire at selectors if Pietersen’s batting performance goes down.
Pundits are also pointing out the difference between Pietersen’s flamboyancy and how much it effects English team’s results. He had the South African in his mouth during his brilliant innings of 94, but a sudden madness cost him a century and the match to England. On the other hand South African captain Graem Smith showed that a great innings might not look brilliant, but it win mathces for your country.
The legendary Shane Warne who happens to be a close friend of Pietersen says -
“My biggest worry (with Pietersen) is that he gets a bit far above himself and does not keep his feet on the ground”.
“He’s got to remember who his friends are. If he keeps that in mind, he will be all right. He has as much talent as anyone that has ever played this game”.
On the other hand forger English captain and great opener Geoffrey Boycott advised him to learn the trade from Shane Warne who is much like him - different and unusual.
My personal take on Kevin Pietersen’s reign on English cricket is that he will usher in a new era in the history of cricket with swashbuckling game and captaincy -provided he gets regular services from bowlers like Simon Jones, Andy Flintoff and Monty Panesar. He will take cricket to the next level from where the Australians have taken over last 15 years or so.