In case some of you are not on Twitter, here are the latest tweets from Kevin Pietersen….
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/623198583936958465
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/623199340216090625
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/623199614527766528
Needless to say, those in the media who had forgotten about him will now report these tweets avidly. The Mail already has a story up, not checked elsewhere.
You know how I think about this by now. We’ve done this to death, but it never hurts to remind ourselves that on the one hand we moan about our top order, and on the other, we have a proven performer not playing, and now 18 months out of international cricket. I’m not sad, I’m effing livid.
I thought Chris Rogers played very well for his 173.
BTW – think Miami is massively over-rated. Never liked it much there, and I’m a supporter of their NFL team!
Being Outside Cricket 
Again Dmitri, this was a predicament that you, TLG and many on here predicted. Even though, or so it appears, the MSM did not have the foresight to see this could happen. How foolish they are.
All too busy believing the hype from and about the director, cricket, England, Andrew, Strauss, ECB, propaganda, trumpet.
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“All too busy believing the hype from and about the director, cricket, England, Andrew, Strauss, ECB, propaganda, trumpet.”
Full marks, Rohan!
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As you so rightly say, what really irks is that he is proven.
Bairstow, in great form, but struggles at test level, concerns about short ball – see Mitchell Johnson.
Taylor, great ODI player, not sure about test ability.
Hales, has the talent, but to put him in now, lambs to the slaughter springs to mind, for all possible replacements except KP!
You can’t tell me that a player of his ability, his talent and knowledge and understanding of the game won’t have reflected on his 2013 ashes performances.
I am sure KP would have thought through new ways of dealing with Mitchell Johnson and thought about how he could have better dealt with the Aussie bowling plans to him.
Its simple he could handle being dropped in at the deep end, the others, not so much. If they bought back KP and he failed the ECB (Clarke), would have a tailor made excuse to jettison him.
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I hadn’t thought about it before, but the more I do, the more convinced I am that Dmitri’s comment that Duncan Fletcher would have had Hales in the side by now is accurate.
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Probably very accurate. Look how he picked players like Vaughan and Tresothick. He spotted something others could not see. As you often say TLG about rating players for what they can do, not what they can’t do, this was what Fletcher did.
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Juxtaposition:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/jul/20/england-batting-lineup-ashes-ballance-bell-lyth-bairstow
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Cue people shrieking “He wouldn’t have saved us from that defeat.”
Enjoy the beach, KP. The ECB don’t deserve you.
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By the way, not wishing to be an arsey stat-mining irritant, but simply in the interests of challenging conventional wisdom ever so slightly…
Bell has six 0s and 1s in his last ten innings, but who else in the England top six has four?
Cook has most runs (by almost 100) in his last ten Test innings, and the highest average, but who has second most, and second highest average?
I know exactly what my answers would have been before checking. They were both wrong.
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Root for most 0s and 1s after Bell?
Stokes for most runs after Cook?
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Correct. Not the kind of facts that will be given much of an airing, I suspect.
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I just think its really funny.
The demonising of KP while at the same time the deification of Cook is the funniest and most ludicrous cricket story going. It makes the ECB look insane.
My advice to the ECB is the same advice KP gave Cook on the eve of the last test match in the last Ashes…………….We should practice are batting against fast bowling.
Cook ignored him then, and ignores him still. KPs better off well out of it.
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“KPs better off well out of it.”
But he blatantly wants to be in it. Strauss(y) [comma, whatever] needs to get his trust issues parked for a year, give KP the “you are a genius, now go show the world I was wrong to exclude you” speech and then sit back in the knowledge he’s in a potential win/win/win/win situation, or a win/win/lose/lose at worst. I’d explain that but I’m not sure I know what I’m talking about. Maybe them on a higher wavelength might be able to help me.
The re-egging of press face would be a marvellous thing, though.
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I notice the English press talking (sensibly for once) about how stupid the selection committee was in the late 80’s, constantly changing the team, etc. That was nearly 30 years ago and people still shake their heads and groan about it.
Strauss is expecting to be remembered as the Man Who Won Back the Ashes And Started England On A Positive New Cricketing Journey, (and Cook can barely keep it in his pants about his Ashes Legacy)… But my bet is that in 30 years they will be remembered as the idiots who sacked KP.
(I remember Ted Dexter as a commentator in the 70s too, incidentally. What an idiot!)
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I think its great to see Rogers doing so well, and a reminder to selectors everywhere that a batsman should be judged on form not age. His circumstances were unusual in that when he was young and promising he had Hayden/Langer/Katich ahead of him. When they finally left the scene he was given one test in 2008 and then the Aussie selectors decided that as he was 30, they needed to look at the younger openers; ie Hughes, Cowan and Warner (Watson had a go too). Finally after all that went pear shaped they finally gave Rogers a go. He actually might have made a bit of a difference to Australia’s chances back in 2009, and 2010/11 if he had been allowed to bed down then as a regular test opener. England is not the only country to make selection mistakes.
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The Aussie selectors made another mistake at that time. They picked Marcus North when they should have given Brad Hodge another go or at the very least, picked David Hussey.
Hodge scored 17000 first class runs at 48, only played 6 tests.
D Hussey has scored 14000 runs at 52, never played a test.
They were both going strong at the time they picked North. Australia got two hit and miss years out of North, then had to drop him during an Ashes series.
I think you’re right that Australia would have performed better at that time with Rogers in the team and, I think, with Hodge and/or D Hussey.
I’m big on picking the best players, whether they are 20 or 36. Cricket is about scoring runs and taking wickets. Pick the players who are best at doing those things.
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I’d forgot about Hodge and D. Hussey. No wonder the Aussies had so much trouble with their batting line up on the 2009 tour.
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Don’t think Marcus was a problem to the Aussies in 2009. He played very well.
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Rogers was head to head with Phil Jaques for the opener position when Langer retired. Rogers was scoring heaps of runs, Jaques even more, so Jaques got the first run at it, and did well.
Australia was unlucky that Jaques’ back injuries cut his career short, because he wasn’t a selection mistake and I believe he could have gone on and still been a top opening bat right to this day. He had a fantastic record in county cricket, averaged 60… He could have been a great Ashes batsman.
Rogers missed out on an opportunity back when Langer retired, and when Hayden retired Katich had stepped up and Hughes was demanding selection etc. as you mentioned. One wonders what might have been if Rogers had been given a good run at it when Langer retired instead of Jaques.
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Rogers was behind katich and jaques in the queue in those days but after those two had gone he could have had a run. Instead it was cowan, Hughes and Watson who had a go. Warner as well. But by that stage he was regarded as too old.
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Sorry to be pedantic, but it was Jaques and Rogers prior to the 07/08 Shield season. In 06/07 Rogers led the run scoring with 1202 Jaques was second with 987 runs http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/AUS/2006-07_f_Batting_by_Runs.html. Those two went to Pakistan on an Australia A tour to fight it out. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/squad/index.html?object=302814 Jaques came out on top, and played for Australia for the next 12 months or so before his first back surgery.
Katich then scored over 1500 runs, the all time Shield record, in the 07/08 season and leapfrogged Rogers in the pecking order.
But as you say, there were plenty of opportunities that passed the selectors by in the Watson/Hughes/Cowan days for Rogers to get a second chance.
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The longest rearguard actions for a draw in Test history:
http://goo.gl/rBcDPU
Like England didn’t pull off at Lord’s. Bet none of these players were tired though.
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Agree completely. Just one of the many ways England are shooting themselves in the foot.As if we had dozens of world-class batsmen to call upon. http://cricketa.us/1Lz6HkE
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Where’s the blog for the Women’s ODI at Taunton today?
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Kevin Pietersen has used exactly the right word. It is silly.
The whole thing has been silly, right back to making him captain when they didn’t want to and then seizing an excuse to take the captaincy away again, the over-reaction to the IPL, through KP Genius and letting SA wind them up over the texts, the melodrama of ‘reintegration’ and then the supreme silliness of ‘disengaged’, followed by the ill-judged book and the silliness and duplicity of ‘trust issues’.
KP can be pretty silly himself. He certainly brings out massive silliness in others.
I’m not interested in people being silly, and I’m tired of it. I want to see the best players selected to play cricket for England in the roles where they can be most useful and properly supported by a sensible management and coaching setup. It doesn’t seem to me to be too much to ask.
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Zeph,
It clearly is too much to ask, given all that’s gone about. The hope, as they say, has that results will take care of themselves and that people will forget it over time. Well, the results aren’t great. And No, People don’t forget things easily. Here we are, talking about the crazy, revolving door, selection policy in the 80’s. If these guys are later shown up to be muppets, then?
But these gentlemen, do not care for the views of anyone but theirs. It’s that simple.
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Gary Ballance, Gary Ballance, Gary Ballance, Gary Ballance out, Jonny Bairstow in . Bell to bat at three. Seems sensible to me, given that Bell asked to play at three in 2013/14. Must of been tough for po’ James Whittaker though. That’s assuming he has a shred of dignity or self-awareness.
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“That’s assuming he has a shred of dignity or self-awareness.”
Actually, it was pretty easy for James Whittaker. In fact, VERY easy..
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In a different topic, but I suspect of interest to you all here, some interesting stuff on Agnew from a piece on him in the Radio Times this week.
He admits that he does not see “any” county cricket – he had not seen Mark Wood bowl until he played for England – and maintains that he cannot be at a cricket ground without working. “You can’t now do county and international cricket and have a life”. It is noted in the article that Boycott still enjoys going to county matches. He also states that complaints about his coverage of the KP story went “all the way” up the BBC. “It was analysed and shredded and of course it came out that it was perfectly balanced”.
I personally enjoy Agnew’s TMS commentary, but think he can do himself little favours as correspondent when he gets a bee in his bonnet about certain issues, and he is massively oversensitive, as seen time and again on Twitter.
In the same piece, Ricky Ponting expressed surprise that fewer than 500,000 people watched the conclusion of Cardiff on Sky. But then pulled it back by saying “We need young people involved in the game rather than sitting on the couch”.
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Thanks Nicholas. Interesting.
In the early stages I thought he might have accepted the party line too easily from the ECB, and a number here thought he was compromised by the Waitrose advert. Towards the end of last summer, when we had reasonably frequent chats on twitter, I had a change of view to a degree. I don’t see him as a part of the problem, to be honest. It’s interesting that he feels the need to say the BBC cleared his work though. Not sure that’s really the point.
We have not spoken on twitter for quite a while and that’s a trend with much of the media who have treated the KP issue, the outside cricket issue and us malcontents as having been put to bed by the Magnificent Strauss and his trust announcement.
But huge thanks for sharing. A shame he feels like that about county cricket. I find it a pleasure when I get the chance to go. Then again, cricket isn’t my job.
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I’m too polite to say what I think about the BBC’s attitude towards any complaints it receives about balance, so I’ll shut up. Suffice to say that Agnew’s use of “of course” is profoundly irritating in this context.
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So he’s the BBC Cricket Correspondent, comma, International Only?
Isn’t it part of his job to know what’s going on in the counties and the grassroots game? Or is he just a Test match commentator with a fancy name?
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Boycottt’s the only correspondent with any credibility. I quite like Vaughan too, despite the lame badinage. He’s not afraid to speak his mind and keeps up with the game. The rest are pointless.
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@Zephirine: In defence of Agnew, the BBC’s county coverage is very ably headed up by Kevin Howells and the local radio commentaries mean that county cricket is hardly neglected by the Beeb. You can’t argue with ball-by-ball coverage of every match throughout the season! And if a major story were to arise in the county game, such as the match-fixing problems that came out of the woodwork last season, I’m sure Agnew would appear on the news outlets as per his job. It’s a different thing “knowing what’s going on” with the county game and making the time to go and watch matches which don’t fall under the terms of his employment by the BBC.
Let us also not forget that the BBC are electing to use him as an equestrian commentator at the Olympics next year, so his lengthy absence for the early part of this winter was because he was working at the equestrian championships. Whether you feel that’s a valuable use of his time, I guess, is another matter.
I agree, though, that it was a very stark view expressed by him – and I was surprised that it was expressed so distinctly and without apology in the interview. That’s why I mentioned it here.
Thanks for the kind words, LCL, by the way. Have much enjoyed reading along here over the past few months. Keep up the great work!
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If he did every single international game England play I might sympathise with him not attending county cricket but he sits out various tours and also misses quite a few home internationals too.
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When the Waitrose problem materialised last summer Agnew was very quick to say he was actually a “Free lance”. He may front the coverage for BBC Radio but things may get complicated after that fact
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I’m sorry you feel that way about Miami (and I hate their NFL team, lol). I think it is an interesting blend of influences from all over the western hemisphere. I love places with people from lots of different countries and Miami is such a gateway between the US, South America, and the Caribbean. I think it’s great city.
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Maybe a case where me and a city got off on the wrong foot. Love the Keys. Love West coast Florida. Just didn’t get on with Miami. Maybe put it on a pedestal and it didn’t live up to it.
Don’t worry. Someone offered me a free week there……😆
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The Keys are one of my favorite places. The drive to Key West is phenomenal. I hope you enjoy the free week! If you haven’t already, get out into the neighborhoods, preferably with someone who speaks Spanish or French. I wish I had some places to suggest, but I unfortunately haven’t been back for a few years.
Go Jets (and Yankees) 🙂
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