Off Topic Kevin Pietersen

[Walsh.i.am]

So, having hit a career-best 326 n.o. yesterday for Surrey, KP has been told by Andrew Strauss that there's no perceived way back into the England set-up for him.
Are England selectors cutting their noses off here, or is the 'baggage' that comes with the bloke more trouble than it's worth?
Plus, who would make way if he was reintroduced? Can't drop Root or Ballance on current form, Ali is useful as a back-up bowler. That leaves Ian Bell, who has saved England's bacon numerous times over his long career?
What to do for the best - bearing in mind the summer visits of New Zealand and, gulp......the Aussies

 

[Tony_Munky_Canary]

I'm a firm believer that you pick your best players when available, especially against the Aussies, so if KP is in this kind of form in my opinion it would be criminal to not pick him and it would not look good on Strauss if his first task is to close the door on our best and potentially most devastating batsman once and for all.

I don't rate Ali as highly as some do, he's not currently in KP's class and his bowling is nothing special so I'd rather pick KP and then find room for a specialist spinner.

I wouldn't have Trott anywhere near the squad either, his form in the 12 months or so before his 'wobble' was largely disappointing so I think we should be looking for another opener at the top of the innings as well, though I wouldn't move Root or Ballance up to do the job.

 

[Walsh.i.am]

I wouldn't have Trott anywhere near the squad either, his form in the 12 months or so before his 'wobble' was largely disappointing so I think we should be looking for another opener at the top of the innings as well, though I wouldn't move Root or Ballance up to do the job.

Fair points, Munky
Trott has now 'retired' from international cricket. In terms of an alternative (and specialist, ffs ) opener, well, they took Adam Lyth to the W.Indies - and failed to use him once. Likewise Adil Rashid as a specialist spinner who can also hold a bat. So just what's the point of taking them, how the hell are they supposed to make the adjustment to international cricket by.....carrying drinks??
If you include those two, it does start to resemble the Yorkshire first team, sadly, but if we plan to compete / win this summer () the best players should, as you say, be selected.

 

[Tony_Munky_Canary]

I didn't realise that about Trott, think that's definitely the right move for all parties that

 

[Home on the range canary]

Didn't Ballance begin his England carer in some style as an opener? I'd move him back to number 2 and bring in KP. sorted, job done, I should be a selector, its not difficult

 

[goldeneadie]

I hope Ballance doesn't have a carer Longsight. But his, and Roots, careers are taking of splendidly so why would Strauss contemplate replacing either of them. That leaves an opening spot and Bell, who really cannot be dropped. I believe Robson was opening when Ballance played last summer. Can't remember him opening, though Root has done so for both England and Yorkshire. I would imagine Adam Lyth will get the opening spot, though why he, Rashid and Wood were taken to the West Indies and totally ignored is a.mystery. all three should have been tried out in at least two matches.

 

[FleetCanary]

I thought we'd have a thread about KP this morning.
As far as I'm concerned he burned his bridges long ago. Text-gate with his fellow South African's in 2012 was bad enough. He was fortunate to be allowed back into the fold after that, but if he really wanted to play for England again why write that book last year? You know why, because that's when it would sell the most copies.
After what he wrote in that book, particularly referring to some prominent players who are still in the England team, how could he expect to be allowed back in? His presence would create a pretty toxic environment, I'm sure. It's a team game, and no matter how many runs KP scores for Surrey the right decision has been made. Move on.

 

[Tony_Munky_Canary]

This is such an English thing to do, absolutely barmy if you ask me, the Aussies must be absolutely pissing themselves.

 

[goldeneadie]

Sorry, I fail to grasp your point. KP has been proven to be a disruptive influence. The Aussies took action against Warner for the Root incident. KP' s actions on several occasions make him unwanted within the team ethic. Great player, wrong ethic.

 

[smhbcfc]

Yet again the ECB have handled things badly (though as Strauss called Pietersen a C*** on Sky last year the writing was on the wall when he was appointed)

Surely they would be better off saying that at the moment Balance / Bell / Root at 3-4-5 is working well, so he won't get in at the moment

This is all hiding the 3 big problems we face:

1. We need an opening batsman
2. We need a proper spinner
3. Our seam attack is too "samey"

Oh and we have a captain who is a good bloke (and has found a bit of form), but is tactically poor

 

[Tony_Munky_Canary]

Sorry, I fail to grasp your point. KP has been proven to be a disruptive influence. The Aussies took action against Warner for the Root incident. KP' s actions on several occasions make him unwanted within the team ethic. Great player, wrong ethic.

Sorry, I don't quite grasp your point either - was Warner ostracised from the Aussie squad and told he had no future playing for his country? No, he was disciplined accordingly, treated like an adult and then went on to play the best cricket of his career and establish himself as one of the world' top openers. Australia had big personality clashes between Warner, Clarke and Shane Watson but good, strong management negated any of those issues and they are back once again at the pinnacle of test cricket with those guys at the heart of their success.

There is no way in a million years the Aussies would have treated KP like this if he was one of theirs, and that I'm afraid is why they will always be light-years ahead of us and we will never dominate the game in the way they have and will do again.

On a slightly different but quite similar issue, would any other country in the world apart from England have kicked John Terry, comfortably our best centre-half by some distance, out and told him he was never playing for his country again?

 

[Norfolkbhoy]

I think that as soon as Strauss got the job KP was not going to get a look-in. Regardless of ability he would be sharing a dressing room with people he has ostracised himself from. He is only ever going to be a short term fix given his age and dodgy knees and I suppose the selectors have the option of bringing back a truly world class talent (which he is) for a series or two with the risk that either he can no longer cut it - and let's not kid ourselves knocking around Div 2 attacks at the Oval is somewhat easier than facing the Convicts on less batter friendly surfaces - or that he can still cut it but his presence adversely affects that of his team mates and sets a poor example to the younger players.

I think we need to get Lyth in to open ASAP. I am unconvinced by Ali, particularly against good fast bowling as his technique seems a bit suspect against genuinely quick bowlers, and particularly lefties. If we are keeping him in the team in a batter's role because he can bowl a bit of off-spin this does not seem sensible to me.

I don't get the impression that there are a number of people pushing for places in the way there were a few years back when we seemed to have real depth in our pace attack. we still miss a functioning Swann desperately and need to find a spinner who can actually take some wickets on flat surfaces.

That said if Cook can keep his form going in the right direction and Bell/Ballance and Root keep up their excellent form then maybe we can get enough runs on the board to put the Aussies under a bit of pressure. Even so we still have to take 20 wickets to win and unless Anderson and Broad can knock 'em over with the new ball I don't think we have a lot of edge to the rest of our attack.

 

[Home on the range canary]

Interesting to see Michael Vaughan thinks kp has been shafted- I.e told to play in county cricket, score some runs and he might get picked again- also gave up ipl cash then straus says no chance mate

 

[Walsh.i.am]

Very interesting piece in today's Telegraph
Step forward Jonathan Liew and the pro-KP lobby!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cr...the-shortest-honeymoon-period-in-history.html

 

[DHCanary]

I agree with Long sight/Vaughan, KP has been strung along by management. He did what was asked of him despite the hit to his earnings, only to still get turned down. Strauss seems the wrong appointment, as he was too close to this as it unfolded, he isn't impartial.

That said, it seems like KP is unable to accept that his actions contributed to this situation, that the bad blood that exists is his fault to some extent, and returning would be disruptive. If the disagreements are with members of the test setup though, I don't know why they won't consider recalling him for limited overseas games, in which I don't think the players involved play.

 

[goldeneadie]

That article seems a very biased view of the whole situation. Pieterson's replacement, Gary Ballance, has a test average in the high 60's so far, so quoting an Aussie player that he is being replaced by someone with a lower average is misleading/careless/provoking. In the one day set up it is possible a case could be made for his 're-integration, but not in the test arena.

 

[1950canary]

I haven't been able to work out who has an issue with KP. The younger players in the current team weren't there when KP was about and none of the senior players have been mentioned as having had an issue with him. We haven't got a Coach so it can't be him which just leaves Strauss or one of the faceless ' blazers ' neither of whom would be involved in the dressing room. If people say that we have 3 players performing at a high level then current form suggests that the other 8 must be crap so it is nonsense to suggest that a place cannot be found for one of the best batsman in recent times.

 

[DHCanary]

I believe the three players with a problem with KP are Anderson, Bell and Cook, but I could be wrong.

 

[Tony_Munky_Canary]

Only found out today that apparently Warne and Gilchrist can't stand each other and have never got on during all the years they played together. That didn't appear to stop them dominating world cricket between them for a decade and they would have had to work together a hell of a lot - pretty much every ball Warne ever bowled.

The way this has been handled by the ECB has been nothing short of pathetic and is yet another reason why we'll never be any bloody good.
No other country would do this, we really are bloody laughing stock.

 

[BillyNCFC]

I believe the three players with a problem with KP are Anderson, Bell and Cook, but I could be wrong.

Broad hates kp, Cook doesn't want him undermining him whilst these two are the faces of England cricket in the media he has no chance.

Shame as half the Aussies in the 90s didn't get on but just got on with it on the pitch. The way cook left kp fielding on his own on the boundary the whole of the last Aussie series showed how much he didn't want to be near him. The whole feel around the team is a joke at the moment. Needs a big big shake up and not just 1 or 2 coaching changes.