Hang on, you told me that that being a better batsman doesn't make him a better cricketer, but now you are saying that bowling ability is incidental. Neither Pietersen nor Bell were ever picked by England for anything other than their batting (although Pietersen in his early career was predominately a bowler), so we come back to their batting stats which are pretty unambiguous. He is a better batsman than Bell despite his character flaws.
Batting, fielding, attitude - for specialist batsmen. bell wins in at least two of the three. You brought Pietersen's bowling into the mix, and all I did was to say that for specialist batsmen, that's not important (so thanks for agreeing with me). If it were a case of an England side with ten players, and a batting slot - Bell takes the slot every single time. Pietersen's attitude, inability to read spin, tendency to swing at wide balls out of frustration / lack of concentration and give his wicket away, ability to turn the dressing room toxic, and inability to catch a ball, all make him too much of a liability. Bell is the better cricketer, despite Pietersen's average being bumped up by rare big scores. Bell is more consistent, more reliable, adds far more in the field, and pulls the team together instead of blowing it apart.
Willy, I've seen your endless tit-for-tat exchanges with other posters (mostly Flyer) on other threads and know how tiresome they can become, so I will make this my last post on the matter. Bell and Pietersen are both specialist batsmen, and, as such, should be judged predominately on their respective batting ability (I only brought bowling into the equation because you insisted on including other factors). On this criterion, Pietersen wins hands down, as is borne out by the stats. Having a âdifficultâ personality doesnât make him a worse batsman (or cricketer), it means he has to be managed better.
I simply cannot see how anyone, knowing what they are like, would choose Pietersen over Bell in any side. And I'm sorry that you feel that you don't have the ability to convince me. As for 'tiresome' exchanges, I have to bow down and accept other people's opinions even though I disagree with them? You're not, so why should I. Grow a pair and man up, I say. I made a statement, you challenged it, I backed up what I said, and you kept it up. A little hypocritical then to throw it at me when you began the debate, mate... Don't make me out to be the bad guy, because there IS no bad guy here, we're just discussing why we think differently. For the record (not that you'll read it cos you've bowed out) I would NEVER choose someone with ability but a toxic nature and bad attitude over someone with ability and a good temperament. As QPR fans we've all seen how badly that goes. So Bell every time for me.
How's your luck. I had a tenner at 6/4 this morning on England bowling them out for less than 425. They were 346-9!!!
The same old problem for England we can't finish off an innings.....87 and still counting for the final wicket....cheap runs to give away and the game swings away to India again......to have got them all out for around 350 would have been a good performance on this pitch, now England are going to have to bat long into day 4 if they are to get any lead to put India under pressure.....
About bloody time......457 all out.....100 or so more than they should have got.... What's the likelyhood that England will be 3 down by stumps?
What a fantastic effort from Anderson and Root. A new world record for a tenth wicket partnership. Records tumbling and England now 7 in the lead! Unbelievable stuff!!
amazing James Anderson and Joe Root have added 164 for the 10th wicket, the biggest last-pair stand in Test history
Imagine if they just played these test matches to a finish. Think this one would last near 2 weeks. Another situation where both teams alreaady pretty much know it'll be a draw now but have to carry on slogging away in the sun.
This one looked a draw from the first session. A featherbed pitch meant only rank bad batting would produce a result and England did their best to oblige. It seems Root and Anderson haven't read the script...
Following from a sunny terrace in Majorca.....this is what summer is all about, and why Test cricket can be so great. Already booked for dinner and a place in front of the big screen for tomorrow night - 10.00 pm kick off here. Have a feeling there will be lots of Germans around, it would be nice to share a bit of their happiness if they beat Argentina, as I sincerely hope they do.
All kinds of records broken this morning. Pleased for Anderson after he just failed to save the game last time.
