The enigma that is Kevin Pietersen

[backfootpunch]

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

[greyblazer]

Ian Bell's experiment may work in England but in the subcontinent if he gets 75 of 100 balls there is no chance of winning.

[rich1uk]

Has he given a reason?

Presumbly it's to concentrate on test cricket.

And IPL. Can see Dhoni doing something like this.

very rarely are there clashes between ODIs and the IPL tho , its actually tests that england tend to be playing when the IPL is on

It's not the clashing that is the issue here. It's the overkill of cricket that meant he's played the 2nd most international cricket in the past 7 years(1st is obviously Dhoni) . So probably wants to extend his career by doing this.

my point was he cant really be doing this to concentrate on the IPL if hes continuing to play test cricket which usually clashes with at least part of the IPL

[backfootpunch]

id go with something like

cook
davies(wk)
trott
morgan(cant think of anyone else)
bairstow
buttler
patel

[ddb]

Oh fair enough.

[rich1uk]

i just dont understand the timing of this tbh

he was interviewed during the ODI series in the UAE where he clearly said his intention was the continue to play all three formats til after the 2015 world cup and after his perfomances against pakistan in the ODIs his place was secure again

[Aidan11]

This ECB's rule is the stupidest rule I have seen. For God's sake use a bit of common sense.

ECB & common sense.

[greyblazer]

I remember that Strauss retired from t/20's but he continued to play for England in the onedayers?? why??

[rich1uk]

I remember that Strauss retired from t/20's but he continued to play for England in the onedayers?? why??

very true , unless they just changed the "rule" recently

[mikesiva]

Has he given a reason?

Presumbly it's to concentrate on test cricket.

And IPL. Can see Dhoni doing something like this.

very rarely are there clashes between ODIs and the IPL tho , its actually tests that england tend to be playing when the IPL is on

It's not the clashing that is the issue here. It's the overkill of cricket that meant he's played the 2nd most international cricket in the past 7 years(1st is obviously Dhoni) . So probably wants to extend his career by doing this.

my point was he cant really be doing this to concentrate on the IPL if hes continuing to play test cricket which usually clashes with at least part of the IPL

TBH, it seems that it's only the WICB that agrees to a schedule where they tour England for the entire month of May....

Most other teams come to England in mid-May.

[Making_Splinters]

Ian Bell's experiment may work in England but in the subcontinent if he gets 75 of 100 balls there is no chance of winning.

Not really an issue though when you consider that the only ODI series that really matters will be in Australia.

I've always said that Bell is one of the best 40 / 50 over top order batsmen in the country - which he actually is - but he could only play internationally in the top three which with KP around he couldn't.


Seems a strange rule, which I've never heard of before considering that our ODI captain doesn't play T20, though he hasn't retired from it.

[rich1uk]

[quote="mikesiva
TBH, it seems that it's only the WICB that agrees to a schedule where they tour England for the entire month of May....

Most other teams come to England in mid-May.[/quote]

not quite right mike , we always start the home tests in mid-may , in fact the earliest we have had tests in the last 10 years the opponents were SL and NZ

[shankycricket]

The ECB is worse than the WICB.

[greyblazer]

@Andrew McGlashan says Strauss was perhaps given 'special dispensation' but no such thing for the no.1 batsman in t/20 cricket

[bigfluffylemon]

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?