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Pietersen the author of his own demise

Roar Rookie
5th February, 2014
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(AFP PHOTO / Saeed KHAN)
Roar Rookie
5th February, 2014
1

The blade has been sharpened, the Lord’s Prayer recited, and with a sharp twang, the guillotine has fallen and ended Kevin Pietersen’s cricket career under the lid that displays three lions.

Love him or hate him, the cricketing world is a duller place without KP’s presence in the Test arena.

The fact his only performances a significant number of people will watch will from now on be in Twenty20 cricket makes it just a touch worse.

But blame no one but the man himself for this outcome, because time and time again Kevin Pietersen has been the common denominator in cricketing spats.

When Pietersen left South Africa for England in 2001 he said it was because of the racial quota system operating in the post-Apartheid nation’s cricketing system.

A valid point, as reverse racism is just as bad at the traditional variety, but his reaction to being dropped was immature – KP himself admits he hurled items across the dressing room and “flew into a rage”, as Cricinfo revealed in 2006.

Following a wildly successful start to his English career at Nottinghamshire, another public row occurred, this time with his captain Jason Gallian.

Pietersen told Gallian he wanted to leave, with the club suffering relegation, which apparently led to a heated exchange. Pietersen then accused Gallian of damaging his equipment.

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Even before he had begun playing Test cricket, Pietersen had been making inflammatory remarks about South Africa’s cricketers, accusing them on not being able to speak English and calling their captain Graeme Smith a muppet.

And then came Test cricket. A hugely successful start to his career led Pietersen to captaincy in 2008, having been in the side only three years.

Series losses in India were a mediocre start, but things turned explosive in the West Indies the following year, when he had a gargantuan falling out with coach Peter Moores in view of the entire world.

The outcome; Moores lost his job and Pietersen resigned as captain, although he later said he was forced to.

Then there was ‘Textgate’, where he sent messages to the touring South Africans which were alleged to have insulted his captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower. Then, having scored a brilliant century, he told the media “it’s not easy being me” in the English dressing room.

‘Reintergration’ followed under Alastair Cook, but something has obviously happened on this most recent Ashes tour, and KP’s career for England is done.

Yes, in these examples other people have not always been innocent, but there is only one man involved in all of them, and that man is the one being dropped.

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Many have claimed it requires special talent to manage a superstar with a super ego, and that Cook and Flower lacked those talents, and that may be true, but it’s also up to the talent to learn to manage his own ego, and Kevin Pietersen has shown he has no ability nor desire to do that.

One spat is forgivable, they happen in every work force, but if your colleague had heated, public arguments with every boss you ever had, would you want to work with them?

If your professional goal was being undermined constantly by someone who claims to be, and probably is, better than you at the job, would you want to work with them?

The answer to these questions is no, and I suspect this is the attitude within the English camp.

Yes, Kevin Pietersen is a wonderful cricketer, oozing with talent and the ability to excite, but if I was English, I’d rather see a cohesive and successful cricket team win matches, as opposed to a divided one lose with KP making runs.

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