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It was the first triple century scored in first class cricket in England for nearly three years.
The highest score in a first class match anywhere in the world since 2009. The highest score made in England since Brian Lara broke every record in the book.
Only one batsman has ever made a higher score for Surrey in a first class match, and that was back in 1899. When Kevin Pietersen eventually walked off The Oval, only 28 innings in the history of first class cricket had produced more runs.
The last time 300 was scored in England, Hashim Amla did the batting, Pietersen did the fielding and two things were the same: the venue and a looming KP controversy involving Andrew Strauss.
For batsmen, and for many cricket lovers especially the statically minded among us, 300 is the Holy Grail.
Cricket’s version of climbing Everest. Growing up watching Australia play in the mid 1980s, the lean years, an Australian batsman making 50 was cause for major excitement.
More often than not Allan Border was the one providing the excitement. 300 was unheard of apart from reading a thick yellow book which had lots of big numbers from a revered old guy called Don Bradman back in the black and white days.
As Australia slowly improved towards the end of the eighties, Dean Jones, Allan Border, David Boon and Mark Taylor showed that 200 was possible, but 219 was as high as they got between them.
Taylor’s 334 heroics came much later in a faraway land and broke a 32 year drought for Australian batsmen. When Brian Lara was run out at the SCG for 277 in 1993 even Australian supporters were disappointed.
There have only been 28 scores of 300 or better in 138 years of Test match cricket. The first one, by England’s Andy Sandham in 1930, took 53 years. The second one, by the revered old guy called Bradman came just three months later.
Len Hutton scored the fifth – a then world record 364 – in 1938 but then war intervened and the 300 mark would not be passed again until 1958.
Lawrence Rowe made 302 for the West Indies in 1974, but then no one passed 300 again until Graham Gooch in 1990. None of this has much to do with Kevin Pietersen, other than to emphasise how rare and how special a triple century actually is.
Even though the Test stats show that 300 is becoming more common (14 of the 28 have been scored since 1998) it is still a feat to be celebrated and revered for decades to come.
But the celebrations for Kevin Pietersen fell flat. His former captain, Andrew Strauss, and his former employers, the ECB have seen to that.
22 November 2013 and it’s day two of the First Ashes Test at the Gabba. Australia will resume at 8-273 and Brad Haddin on 78 will only have Ryan Harris and Nathan Lyon for support.
I arrive an hour before play and am lucky enough to see Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott batting in the nets. Now Trott is a fine player but I’m immediately drawn to Pietersen, tall, powerful, wide stance.
I’m looking forward to watching him bat live for just the second time, having enjoyed watching him on TV for many years. As a fan it’s a privilege to watch him go through his paces from just a few metres away.
Just like Tendulkar and Lara before him, he’s a man you want to go and watch live. Surely England, fresh off a 3-0 home series win, will build a commanding first innings lead. Trott at 3, KP at 4, Ian Bell at 5 – they look strong.
As we now know, it didn’t exactly turn out that way. Trott went home for well documented reasons a few days later and would only play three more Tests before retiring.
Pietersen would see out the series but hasn’t played a Test since. Neither man would make another Test match century. Trott will go quietly, but KP’s departure will be anything but. The bring back KP bandwagon could still be rolling come the 2019 World Cup.
Resuming his innings for Surrey on 326, Kevin Pietersen ended up making 355 not out. One run less than the total number of runs he and Trott combined made for England after their Brisbane net. 355 is already a famous number in cricket thanks to Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh.
Both men signed off on 355 wickets and dismissals respectively; with his chance of playing for England again gone 355 not out is likely KP’s final farewell to the red ball game.
In the second innings he is nursing a calf strain and doesn’t bat. With nothing left to play for, the IPL, CPL and BBL are calling louder than ever.
Was Strauss’ decision a surprise? Of course not, with UK media talk of a player revolt led by ‘company man’ Alastair Cook.
Is the decision the right one for the England team? In a team harmony sense perhaps yes, in a cricketing sense perhaps not.
At the end of the Ashes series in January 2014, Pietersen looked sore and much older than 33. But with his knee problems seemingly fixed, Pietersen would surely be an asset to England’s misfiring one day team.
Age shouldn’t be a deciding factor in picking a team to play one day cricket. From a fielding perspective you can’t have half your team in their mid 30s, but Kumar Sangakkara (37), Tillakaratne Dilshan (38), Brendon Mccullum (33), Grant Elliot (36) and Misbah ul Haq (40) all had stellar World Cups.
England play New Zealand this week and KP won’t be there. Pietersen has always done things his way so it’s almost fitting that he is surely the first man to be sacked after making 300.
No telegram from the Queen, no commemorative plaque at the ground, no-one running onto the field stuffing cash into his pockets. Until he got injured he was headed for the IPL, now he’s apparently on holidays in Dubai.
If Sky had a sense of theatre, they would offer him a place in the commentary box as Strauss’ replacement. Or perhaps they too are worried about team harmony.
On page 304, in the second last chapter of his autobiography Pietersen makes reference to his relationship with Andrew Strauss. “We’ll be OK.”
The last chapter of Pietersen and England has just been published, and for KP and all of those who love watching him bat there are no happy endings.
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