by Arthur Crabtree » Fri Feb 20, 2015 6:47 pm
Wow.
I mean, wow.
And I know what you are thinking. Because it's what I am thinking too. It's like that moment in Casablanca, when Rick remembers after a long time, that the world isn't always a terrible place. And he says, within a new relish, "It looks like fate is playing a hand'.
It was when Kevin Pietersen came to the crease throughout the ODI series, with the top order in tatters, and with barely any assistance from the middle order, and took England to glorious failure over and over again. 100* to fall seven short in East London. 116 to give South Africa a tough target, hauled down in the last over, in Centurion. Don't forget his 108* in the Bloemfontain tie. The 75...
He averaged 151, with 454 in six innings. Those three hundreds... no one else got a third of those runs. No one else made a ton. Like Rick, he can play a lone hand, and doesn't get dragged down by the struggles of the others. He has an individualism, and a clarity of thought.
England were 68-6 in Centurion, when he and (what's the point of) Ashley Giles dug in and took England to 172-7. How great that felt. Unorthodox, a bit flashy for sure, but this is a big bonus going into the Ashes. It looks like fate is playing a hand. You can't ignore talent like that. Which transcends the idea of the team, as he did here. As is never said, there is an i in side. I'm going to enjoy watching this player.
I always say that everybody's right.