The enigma that is Kevin Pietersen

[Dilbert]

Given that for the majority of Englands rise to the top (widely accepted as being the Andrew Strauss era) Pietersen was bang out of form and on more than one occasion was on the verge of being axed from the team on performance alone it shows how comparatively little impact he had. Cook and Trott have been the bedrock of Englands recent successes, which is why their failure against South Africa exposed the batting line-up so much. Pietersen up until about 6 months ago was performing maybe once a series, if that.

Well, if after being bang out of form, he can still top batting averages for over a year, and score more runs at a better average and SR than your "bedrock" batsmen, I fail to understand how his contribution can be irrelevent.

Thankfully, some comment is informed by more than mere statistics.

I'm sorry, I didnt understand what you are trying to say here. Can you please elaborate?

No problem. It was simply that your reply to a post that took factors other than statistics into account, simply referred to statistics.

Err, what factors did yorker take into account other than statistics?
He indicated KP was badly out of form.
Cook and Trott were scoring bulk of the runs
And Eng lost because they failed.

He isnt even supporting his arguement with facts, so I fail to understand how his arguement takes other factors into account... unless ofcourse you count vague statements.

[m@tt]

I hnoestly dont think the problems are that big... in fact, I would argue that this kind of thing should be healthy for a team, but the situation has obviously been managed so piss poorly any positives results are looking less likely.

It's been badly managed by all parties.

I mean anyteam which has any pride would sit together in a dressing room after, say in Pakistan, and want to discuss what happened. No amount of this "we are a team" public BS can ever change that, things must be said after a lose like that, people must be held accoutable. No doubt KP's arrogant and outspoken nature means that he is more likely to say things to people they dont want to hear, and in turn, I doubt he receives criticism well.

Of course there will be some way of evaluation after any game. And for England, there have been a few post-mortems too which have been very helpful in drawing a line under the past and honestly yet constructively identifying what went wrong and what needs to change. And everyone is encouraged to contribute - it's no just an opportunity for the loud mouths to mouth off. Pietersen will have given honest feedback and received honest feedback. There may be a bit of discussion maybe some disagreement but I'm sure he hasn't been a problem in those situations.

In terms of the current situation, there's a lot of rumours about and a lot of pinches of salt to be taken. But let's take a look at one quote from Steve James, whose writing I trust a lot more than certain other Telegraph writers:

Of the following things I am fairly certain: that Pietersen’s head was turned by his handsome salary and fine form at the Indian Premier League this year. His behaviour changed for the worse after that, becoming very cocky, sometimes even cruelly dismissive of colleagues’ abilities and also very demanding in his dealings with the England management.


What this suggests is that Pietersen is criticising team mates - possibly both within and outside the dressing room. Unlike the aforementioned team-meetings, these comments seem to be made away from honest, face-to-face environments and are deconstructive rather than constructive. If true, that's not acceptable.

This is what gets me most about this situation.... say what you will, but in KP England have a guy that truly wants to play and score runs... he loves the hard yards, but he is an isoltated character who takes his inpiration from coming to the fore when times are tough.... to the point where he seems to create adversity for himself to crawl out of.

All players love playing, scoring runs, taking wickets etc.

I get the feeling that this team england BS that KP doesnt fit in is a merely a protective bubble inside which the party line is to ignore the castle crumbling around them... KP is too proud to let theat happen without speaking out, Flower to stubborn and outspoken himself to let a subordinate override him, and the team probably not wanting to admit some of the hard questions the situation has thrown up, or stand up and be counted.

As I mentioned, England have often had post-mortem meetings following bad losses. They've frequently said how their dressing room is a place where honesty is encouraged. How can a team be like that yet "ignore the castle crumbling around them"? The two don't go together.

I think they have changed the rules. From now on, the cricket matches will be decided by how many beers you have with a teammate and how much time you spend in the Dressing Room following the orders of an autocratic boss rather than how many runs you score and how many wickets you take.

This saga has been going on for weeks now and you still don't get it, Shanks. "Team unity" is not about being best buds. It's not about being robots - 11 players who think and act the same. To dumb it down to a single sentence, it's about pulling in the same direction.

Only those within the team can truly say if there is a problem and what those problems are. But I trust that Strauss and Flower have made a difficult decision because they had to.

[Dilbert]

btw, whats the latest on the KP saga? He was supposed to meet Strauss and Flower yesterday, but dont see any news of that on cricinfo. Did the meeting happen? Any statements after that?

[greyblazer]

No it didn't happen. No one is ready to take the initiative and because of that you will keep hearing all types of gossips. I heard that there maybe a meeting with Prior as a mediator though it again can be a rumour

[D/L]

I think we both know that any account, supported by evidence, of such an employee’s conduct whilst at work would also be taken into account by any tribunal, sp.

Indeed, but to be fair, the ECB arent contractually bound to pick Pietersen or renew his contract, and sueing the ECB would destroy his career, so we both know any legal action isnt going to happen even if the evidence was there at KP's disposal.

Yes, that makes the comparison to a hard working employee, who is disliked by his colleagues because of his behaviour, even less relevant.

The ECB may simply decide not to renew Pietersen’s contract and he would have no redress.

The reference to the lack of legal action from Pietersen's camp was, of course, to any that may have been taken against the media for their reportage.

[meninblue]

I am shocked to see so much preference being given to a player with disciplinary issues over team unity. Gone are the days of Sachin and Rahul. The new mantra is one has to break team rules if you have to be successful cricketer. No need of team unity. I just can't imagine Sachin criticizing Rahul or Kumble or Laxman or viceversa. Like humble and respectful people is what the society needs, the team atmosphere also needs players who are humble and respect each other. In England, the trend is swann criticizes KP in book, KP criticises someone else. It's accepted by many. Humility is no more important in our day to day life. We have to be arrogant, indisciplined, disrespectful. That seems to be the way of our generation. The last time i was told in school was jealousy, ego, greed are useless. You have to be humble and respect others. Whatever success you achieve one has to be aware of how one behaves. I imagine that if Sachin and Rahul started behaving in proportion to the runs they scored at test level and their records at cricket. Luckily, they are not those type of cricketers. They are simple human beings. Nobody taught them to display ego and arrogance which is directly proportional to their runs. The trend has changed it seems. sledging has is being accepted in cricket. now they even sledge their own players, but via sms to their opponents. Cricket has changed a lot , hasn't it. The thoughts have changed, the world has changed. Why should cricket be immune to it? Luckily some above mentioned Indian players are not like that. I am glad some cricketers do not flow with the new trends and behavioral changes. They remain in team/society as simple, humble human beings even though many might prefer to be given licensed or behave according to the runs they score. Success is the new mantra, the way you achieve it and the ways that affect those around you no more matters. How one should behave outside a ground and inside a ground should differ.
Just superb.

Comparison of Strauss's/Cooks's/ Trott's/ KP's/ Bell's and Priors runs amuse me because it reminds me of joke.
Teacher: "Which is more important to us, the sun or the moon?"
Pupil: "The moon."
Teacher: "Why?"
Pupil: "The moon gives us light at night when we need it but the sun gives us
light only in the day time when we don't need it."

We can prove this ton is better than that and blah blah. But the truth is every run is important. Even one run scored by tailender can be as important as a hundred. We have to appreciate that each of England players have been scoring runs. Cook scored 700+ versus OZ, Strauss scored good against WestIndies, KP scored good against some team, Trott against some, Bell against some.

[greyblazer]

It is Angus Porter the PCA CEO. Sorry for the mistake.

[greyblazer]

Gangs was said to be a bad boy and he captained a certain team called India to success On his 1st tour to OZ 91/92 his seniors wanted him to be thrown out of the team and he had a public spat with Guru Greg. Well all of us know he was a good captain and made runs.

[sussexpob]

It's been badly managed by all parties.

One party created the situation, but then again, the other had the responsibilty to manage the situation. The ECB failed at every hurdle to contain this and stop it getting out of hand, and now seemingly, are still struggling to come up with a satisfactory resolution. In terms of management you have to be prepared for this, or have the capacity to deal with it... considering how many press relation people are employed and other similar types, one could easily state that their management has been piss poor at every stage.

I dont want to hear Flower demanding apologises from players, I firstly want him or the ECB to apologise for the shame their input and handling has caused the image of our countries game.

What this suggests is that Pietersen is criticising team mates - possibly both within and outside the dressing room. Unlike the aforementioned team-meetings, these comments seem to be made away from honest, face-to-face environments and are deconstructive rather than constructive. If true, that's not acceptable.

I think that the open feedback loop and team "post mortems" you describe would not result in players disgruntingly talking outside the team if they were the democracy fest that you suggest, and if KP felt his comments or feedback was being listened to or acknowledged, he wouldnt go speaking behind peoples back.... especially when by all accounts he is a very straight talking and confrontational character(certainly not scared of a fall out with people, or making such things public knowledge).

And Steve James assessment is, as usual, remarkably far from the mark for me.

All players love playing, scoring runs, taking wickets etc.

A fact that the press overlook when they make remarks about him chasing the money and being a Saffer Mercernary.

This saga has been going on for weeks now and you still don't get it, Shanks. "Team unity" is not about being best buds. It's not about being robots - 11 players who think and act the same. To dumb it down to a single sentence, it's about pulling in the same direction.

Its not about being a robot, but anyone who doesnt agree or follow with the direction that everyone else is pulling in gets dropped for reasons of team unity? Yep, way to make a point.... can you not see the contradiction?

[D/L]

Maybe its just me, but I cant see how such a good performer can be jettisoned as a non team player.... everything else is just by the way side. A team lives and dies by its performance, and in those terms, KP is the best.

I suggest some people review what they think makes a good team. Surely all that matters is contributions and final results?

There have been plenty of “non-team” players in cricket, and other sports, over the years. Clearly, for those who had a reasonably long career, the pros of playing them outweighed the cons.

Is it inconceivable that, with Pietersen, they don’t?

Re being on a mountain on the other end of a rope to a fellow climber, it may be better that the other climber doesn’t detest you than that he is a very good mountaineer.

[D/L]

Unlike Anti KP brigade we hope that there will still be some solution. Team unity doesn't win you matches and yes it is good to be optimistic

Perhaps many of the so called “Anti KP brigade”, a description which seems to have been used for anyone who is perceived not to regard Pietersen as a deity, actually know more about playing team sport than those who seem to think that talent excuses any standard of behaviour.

[sussexpob]

Maybe its just me, but I cant see how such a good performer can be jettisoned as a non team player.... everything else is just by the way side. A team lives and dies by its performance, and in those terms, KP is the best.

I suggest some people review what they think makes a good team. Surely all that matters is contributions and final results?

There have been plenty of “non-team” players in cricket, and other sports, over the years. Clearly, for those who had a reasonably long career, the pros of playing them outweighed the cons.

Is it inconceivable that, with Pietersen, they don’t?

Re being on a mountain on the other end of a rope to a fellow climber, it may be better that the other climber doesn’t detest you than that he is a very good mountaineer.

We dont agree on the Pro's and Con's because, as I have said, I dont consider anything but the Pro's and Con's of his batting career.... and trust me, I would prefer the man with the skills if something goes wrong!

[greyblazer]

Unlike Anti KP brigade we hope that there will still be some solution. Team unity doesn't win you matches and yes it is good to be optimistic

Perhaps many of the so called “Anti KP brigade”, a description which seems to have been used for anyone who is perceived not to regard Pietersen as a deity, actually know more about playing team sport than those who seem to think that talent excuses any standard of behaviour.

Nonsense

[D/L]

...Everytime I hear this team unity concept I can't stop laughing.

Really? How strange, revealing perhaps.

[D/L]

I hnoestly dont think the problems are that big... in fact, I would argue that this kind of thing should be healthy for a team, but the situation has obviously been managed so piss poorly any positives results are looking less likely...

...You tend to find people who are most outspoken are also the people who take things to heart the most.... distruptive natures are often misunderstood for lack of caring, when often the opposite is the case. I trust, imo, that KP is a real committed guy who becomes disheartened with the teams lack of performance, and because he has an isolated status in the team due to personality clashes, became reactive and disheartened to the point of making an uncaluated error in judgement, probably not really thought through...

Pure conjecture, sp.

It seems more likely, and the lack of any legal action against the media's reportage would seem to support this view, that Pietersen finally crossed a line in the sand.