Kevin Pietersens England career over.

[joeinbrighton]

Truth is that KP threw his wicket away too many times, and lots of people don't like that little truth either.

It's like an article writer said yesterday. We have a tendency in this country to be more critical of players that hole out at the boundary trying to accelerate the score than we do of players who get clean bowled missing a straight one. What it highlights is that we have a suspicion of talent and so consequently after a humiliating Ashes defeat, it's the team's most naturally gifted batsman who attracts the criticism rather than Joe Root, Michael Carberry or even Alastair Cook, all of whom had worse series statistically than Pietersen and all of whom were out to bad shots regularly during the series.

 

[joeinbrighton]

The ability to play at a consistently high level ?

Which an average of 47, 23 test hundreds in 104 test matches and 8181 test runs confirm he has for nearly a decade.

 

[vegster]

Which an average of 47, 23 test hundreds in 104 test matches and 8181 test runs confirm he has for nearly a decade.

How odd then that a couple of years ago he went out to bat like a walking wicket so often that every trundling left arm spinner would be put on as soon as he came out to bat ? And recently any batting partner was at risk from a run out for his usual " get off the mark " suicidal first single ?

 

[joeinbrighton]

How odd then that a couple of years ago he went out to bat like a walking wicket so often that every trundling left arm spinner would be put on as soon as he came out to bat ?

In the 1989 Ashes series, Graham Gooch was so traumatised at his continual dismissals by medium pace trundler Terry Alderman that it scrambled his brain and led to him making himself unavailable for selection. It didn't stop him regrouping and coming back the following year and scoring a triple century against India (456 runs in the match) and then going on to be England's highest test run scorer. Every test batsman has a rut at some point in their career. But the old adage is true. Form is temporary, class is permanent.

 

[Questions]

If David Gower had had a little more application he would have been 3 times the player KP could ever be.

If he moved his feet when faced with top class 'outside of off stump bowling' he might have been.
Anyway Gower was English so different argument.

 

[vulture]

The ecb have really -ucked this up big style..... The public are now on KP side and even swann is supporting him. Rumours are Broad is furious at nothing having our best player there. Andy Fowler and Cook will become hate figures and both don't deserve that. What the ecb should of done was told KP he was dropped for the two tours but informed him that if he scored runs for surrey and did not play ipl he would be be judged on merit. KP would of chosen ipl and then ecb would of not looked like such a shambles.

 

[Leekbrookgull]

The ecb have really -ucked this up big style..... The public are now on KP side and even swann is supporting him. Rumours are Broad is furious at nothing having our best player there. Andy Fowler and Cook will become hate figures and both don't deserve that. What the ecb should of done was told KP he was dropped for the two tours but informed him that if he scored runs for surrey and did not play ipl he would be be judged on merit. KP would of chosen ipl and then ecb would of not looked like such a shambles.

Wind me up or is that Start me up ?

 

[vegster]

In the 1989 Ashes series, Graham Gooch was so traumatised at his continual dismissals by medium pace trundler Terry Alderman that it scrambled his brain and led to him making himself unavailable for selection. It didn't stop him regrouping and coming back the following year and scoring a triple century against India (456 runs in the match) and then going on to be England's highest test run scorer. Every test batsman has a rut at some point in their career. But the old adage is true. Form is temporary, class is permanent.

Good comeback, but Alderman took 41 wickets in a 6 Test series, so if he got Goochie every innings that meant there were plenty of other England batsmen " traumatised " as well who probably came back too.

 

[joeinbrighton]

Good comeback, but Alderman took 41 wickets in a 6 Test series, so if he got Goochie every innings that meant there were plenty of other England batsmen " traumatised " as well who probably came back too.

England got through 29 players in 6 tests that year, so that goes without saying. Those 41 wickets for Alderman, however, flattered both him and Australia. That Australian side was nothing special, nowhere near as good as the team that came over and won in 1993 and 1997 and Alderman, accurate though he was, shouldn't really have been ending up with 41 wickets in a summer. The fact he did said much about how England's top order crumbled against him. Gooch faced far more hostile bowling when he carried his bat with 154 not out versus the West Indies at Headingley in 1991. Like I say, class tells through eventually. Pietersen's run of dismissals against part-time spinners was followed by him battering Dale Steyn, the best fast bowler currently in world cricket, upon his return to the England side and he then went to India in conditions conducive to spin and helped England win the series. Cream rises to the top eventually, it always does in sport, as in life itself.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

When asked if he would like some bread and and butter pudding Pietersen replied 'I am not f***ing English Eddie. I am South African. I just work here'

 

[KZNSeagull]

The first article does not really say much but the second is a little more illuminating on what may have occured. Seems that KP may have got the thin end of the wedge over the fall out.

Am currently listening to the Vaughan and Tuffnell podcast from Radio 5 live. They are essentially saying that this decision is extremely odd, that it cannot be a cricketing decision, but that no-one can tell them what it is he has done wrong. All conversations they have had with people suggest that KP was towing the line. Even Swann emailed after he left to congratulate KP on his team ethic in Aus.

Cook apparently did not say a word in the meeting in which they told KP that he was no longer required. V & T feel sorry for Cook, as they think this is an ECB power struggle but essentially, they do not know what KP has done wrong. Worth a listen http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/5lspecials

 

[Surf's Up]

Am currently listening to the Vaughan and Tuffnell podcast from Radio 5 live. They are essentially saying that this decision is extremely odd, that it cannot be a cricketing decision, but that no-one can tell them what it is he has done wrong. All conversations they have had with people suggest that KP was towing the line. Even Swann emailed after he left to congratulate KP on his team ethic in Aus.

Cook apparently did not say a word in the meeting in which they told KP that he was no longer required. V & T feel sorry for Cook, as they think this is an ECB power struggle but essentially, they do not know what KP has done wrong. Worth a listen http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/5lspecials

By all accounts Cook (and therefore the rest of the Essex mafia) had already had a massive say in KPs future.

 

[sten_super]

It's an absolute mess, and nobody comes out of this looking good (KP did until he started feeding tidbits to Piers Morgan).

One thing where I disagree with a lot of commentators - they've been questioning how this decision can be made when there's no permanent 'team director' appointed. Yet the team director is just one selector out of three(?) - and this is clearly a selection issue. It wouldn't matter if they appointed Graham Ford and he wanted him back - he'd be outvoted by the other selectors.

 

[KZNSeagull]

By all accounts Cook (and therefore the rest of the Essex mafia) had already had a massive say in KPs future.

Not according to this show I have just listened to. Vaughan reckons that the only reason he can think that KP is gone, is that it would have looked like KP had got rid of his second England coach (after the Peter Moores thing). He spoke to Cook in Aus who stated categorically that he did not have any issues with KP.

As an aside, what was very interesting was who Cook talks to for advice. It would appear that he does not speak to any former England captains, and they are not sure who he turns to for advice. Vaughan said that when he was Captain, he spoke to Stewart, Athers, Gower, and others unnamed, and he had an MCC member who kept an eye on things, who Vaughan spoke to regularly for the fans perspective as it were. He also says that Mark Taylor works with Michael Clarke, Healy with Haddin, Warne with various players, even though they spend their time commentating. It is not up to them to phone Cook and offer advice, it is up to him to seek it and they are not sure whether he does so or not.