The enigma that is Kevin Pietersen

[rich1uk]

just had a random thought , with how well he has been doing in ODIs and the fact we now need to replace KP as an opener in t20s , is cook the best option to replace him ?

[shankycricket]

just had a random thought , with how well he has been doing in ODIs and the fact we now need to replace KP as an opener in t20s , is cook the best option to replace him ?

Yes but dont want to ruin his technique. I'd go with Chris Nash.

[Making_Splinters]

Well it seems KP and England actually discussed this back during the Lord's test so I wonder why it has taken so long for it to come out, maybe they didn't want any distractions from winning the series and equally who else in the team knew.

I think the ECB is being a little bit daft in their insistance that a player has to be availble to play both ODI and T20 to be selected for either considering our ODI captain doesn't even play T20 cricket for England nor does Trott but such is the way of things.

Ever since KP had his son he's made lots of comments about not wanting to be on long tours so it shouldn't be too mcuh of a suprise and perhaps this may even be slightly selfless - no point in wasting 15 ODIs this summer on a player who was going to retire as I suspect he was intending on retiring from both after the T20 World Cup.

Still when one door closes another opens, for whom remains to be seen, hope Bell gets the summer opening for the ODI side but I doubt it will happen.

[greyblazer]

What England want is someone who can consistently hit quickfire 40's and 50's at top of the order. With Cook playing as a anchor it will help England to get good scores.

[greyblazer]

Well I hope this might let Bell open against the Windies in the ODI series, probably be either Hales or Kieswetter though.

please not bell back in the ODI team

Why not he's easily one of the best limited overs top order batsmen in the country.

im not sure a top 3 of cook,bell and trott is whats required in modern odi cricket

Yeah, never mind the fact that Cook and Trott are two of England's three highest averaging batsmen ever in ODIs (KP being the third), and have strike rates of 81 and 78 respectively, which are perfectly adequate in ODIs. Never mind the fact that England's ODI team is probably the most successful it's been since 1992.

After all, we all know that If you don't have a strike rate of over 90, you'll never succeed in ODI cricket.

After all, the following, all of whom have a strike rate of less than 81, were all terrible ODI batsmen and would never make it anywhere their respective countries' all-time ODI sides:

Michael Bevan
Michael Clarke
Matthew Hayden
Ricky Ponting
Sourav Ganguly
Inzamam ul Haq
Rahul Dravid
Brian Lara
Kumar Sangakarra

(and many, many, many more highly rated ODI batsmen)

But hey, why let the facts get in the way of a dig at England, eh?

Most of them played in a different era. These days with 20 overs of power play you need an aggressive batsman at top of the order.

[greyblazer]

Even in Australia where the next WC will be held we all saw Aus chasing down 330 in one of the matches last year. England also made 300 at Adelaide. It tells you about how onedayers are played these days.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Just woken up to to disappointing news.

What a great job KP has done for the England limited overs side. It has been a real pleasure watching him play. And this reinforces his commitment to Test cricket.

Bit of a shame the ecb has sawn off his T20 future.

Will read the comments here later.

Many great innings over the years. I remember his great run of form at the T20WC success in the Caribbean. His first ODI games against the South Africans. His captaincy of the ODI side in 08 in beating SA at home. Notably when turning round a losing cause with the ball at Headingley.

But most of all, his 91* at Bristol in the great summer of 05 against Australia. A real Cool Hand innings, in lone pursuit of an unlikely win.

An average of 42 (SR87) makes KP an all time great for England in limited overs format. And an average of 47 in Asia shows KP overcame the ultimate test for an England player.

And then the style. The audacious glitter and daring of a KP innings. And the odd neurotic neediness as well... He leaves a huge void in the team.

This is a big blow for England's WC campaign.

[greyblazer]

Just woken up to to disappointing news.

What a great job KP has done for the England limited overs side. It has been a real pleasure watching him play. And this reinforces his commitment to Test cricket.

Bit of a shame the ecb has sawn off his T20 future.

Will read the comments here later.

Many great innings over the years. I remember his great run of form at the T20WC success in the Caribbean. His first ODI games against the South Africans. His captaincy of the ODI side in 08 in beating SA at home. Notably when turning round a losing cause with the ball at Headingley.

But most of all, his 91* at Bristol in the great summer of 05 against Australia. A real Cool Hand innings, in lone pursuit of an unlikely win.

An average of 42 (SR87) makes KP an all time great for England in limited overs format. And an average of 47 in Asia shows KP overcame the ultimate test for an England player.

And then the style. The audacious glitter and daring of a KP innings. And the odd neurotic neediness as well... He leaves a huge void in the team.

This is a big blow for England's WC campaign.

The knock at Bristol and the one in SA where he got a century and almost took England to a near impossible victory were outstanding knocks. I still see journalists on twitter saying that he wasn't a team player and it is good that he has retired!

[Arthur Crabtree]

The hate for KP on the BBC comments, is extremely sad. People just want to view everything he does negatively. The key England bat of the noughties will be remembered with contempt. Which is so unfair and disappointing.

[greyblazer]

The hate for KP on the BBC comments, is extremely sad. People just want to view everything he does negatively. The key England bat of the noughties will be remembered with contempt. Which is so unfair and disappointing.

One of the many comments I saw today.

Dean Wilson on twitter,

"The fundamental point of this Morris/Flower/Strauss era is that the team comes first. If it means the odd toy out of the pram so be it"

[braveneutral]

Perhaps a testament to KP is the length of this thread. If it was anyone else it would be about 9 comments long!

As for this special dispensation, I daren't go on Twitter as I have a feeling journalists are trying to create a story here to cover their own backs. They probably know as much as any of us... It is more likely to be special disinformation at the moment.

[OffStumpYorker]

I can understand the decision, hes 32, will be pushing 35/36 by the next world cup and it gives England time to look for a replacement, his son is not getting any younger and is 2 or 3 years old, so just at the stage where KP will be missing key stages, if you think about the next 18 months, we have the 3 ODI series (WI, Aus, SA), T20 WC, India pre christmas tests, ODI's in india post christmas, NZ + Odi's, Pre-season warm up test, summer of ODI's, Ashes, more Odi's, Away Ashes, More odi's. Add on 2 IPL's, a CL (possibly) and you see why hes given up the odi's and T20i's as he'll get an extra 4-5 months a year with his family.

As for the announcement not been made sooner, there was also the consideration of it overshadowing the TB test had it come out during the week before. It may have also been the ECB that suggested he 'sleep' on the decision for a couple of weeks and make an informed choice, and if there was anything they could do to pursuade him to stay on.

[ddb]

Perhaps a testament to KP is the length of this thread. If it was anyone else it would be about 9 comments long!

This has got more than the Dravid thread. #Testingtimes

[braveneutral]

And Dravid retired properly. None of this halfway house stuff...

[meninblue]

The best England batsmen in ODI i have seen. Also, had the potential to be one of the worlds great ODI batsman but he has achieved enough to be recognized as an excellent batter amongst all teams.