Kevin Pietersen, England's new captain, has evolved in an environment where he has always been the odd man out and without the self-belief he so clearly exudes, he would have been lost, writes Harsha Bhogle in the Indian Express.
By being open about the mediocrity in the English cricket system, often alluded to but rarely taken head-on, he has sent out a message about the kind of players he wants to work with. “I want players who perform day-in-day-out” he said. He is looking for match-winners, not cosy players who do enough to stay in the side. When you apply that condition, it is not difficult to see who he is after ... With the backing of the captain, Flintoff is back to being the nightmare batsman for the opposition ... Next he worked on Harmison, a man of fragile temperament but enormous ability. England, much to everyone’s glee, were ready to give up on him. But sometimes the biggest brutes have soft cores, feel the same need for reassurance as average strugglers.
In the Guardian Duncan Fletcher writes that while England flourished against South Africa, their handling of India's pitches will give us a better idea of their progression.
We will find out about certain individuals' variations after the plane lands in India, where I expect Paul Collingwood and Luke Wright to do more bowling. The key to batting over there is the ability to gauge the pace of the pitch, play the ball late, and manoeuvre it into gaps with flexible wrists. Owais Shah - preferably lower down the order - and Pietersen are key and others will have to learn quickly, because the English tendency is to go hard at the ball. A shot in England that will bring you runs might go straight to a fielder in India because the ball comes off the pitch more slowly. Go too early at the ball on the subcontinent and you don't give yourself time to pick up the variations in pace and bounce.
Despite the losses to New Zealand in one-day cricket and to South Africa in Test cricket and the departures of Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood as Test and one-day captain respectively, the England who completed the summer were more settled and confident than the one who began it, writes Mike Atherton in the Times.
Pietersen has been a revelation. Very few people would have expected him to have such a positive and immediate impact, writes Angus Fraser in the Independent.
RSS Feed
