The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Kevin Pietersen is not the answer to England's ODI woes

Does the Big Bash League need more than just ageing stars to thrive? (image: AAP)
Roar Guru
10th March, 2015
25

If I weren’t Australian, England’s first round exit at this year’s Cricket World Cup would look sad rather than embarrassing to me.

Its brand of ODI cricket is stuck in an era where a first innings score of 250, whether the English batted first or second, was near impossible to chase.

Peter Moores, the ECB and Eion Morgan will be savaged by the media once British Airways gets them home to Heathrow and they deserve every bit of it.

Moores and the ECB’s decision to give Morgan the captaincy with limited preparation was a panic move not unlike political parties changing leaders due to polls. Morgan, meanwhile, looked burdened at all times during their Australian nightmare with his tactics and batting suffering under the weight of the job.

Yet for the sins of management, all 15 members of the squad must take the blame with not one player worthy of a pass mark for the cup. Gary Ballance, Joe Root and Ian Bell have great skills that suit Test cricket yet all three go missing when they put on the pyjama uniforms in big matches.

Alarmingly, England’s batsmen struggled when the ball began to swing, a notion previously unthinkable considering the conditions English players learn their trade in. Meanwhile, in the bowling department, England’s bowlers have lost their mojo.

Fifteen months ago James Anderson and Stuart Broad’s bowling partnership was as feared as Dennis Lillee-Jeff Thompson, yet now their partnership has more in common with Morecambe and Wise. Moeen Ali is a solid spinner who is still finding his way while Steve Finn racked up hits to his name at a rate not seen by a Finn in Australasia since Neil and Tim led Split Enz.

The ECB will now have to move beyond Band-Aid solutions and conduct major surgery on its ailing national team or face the distinct possibility of sliding below associate nations in ICC rankings.

Advertisement

But while there will be many calls for different approaches to the problem the ECB must not look to the past and recall Kevin Pietersen. There are many valid arguments as to why the swashbuckling South African should return to the fold after his dismissal in 2014.

He is still a unique talent with a track record in ODI cricket that no-one in the current squad could match, while his cockiness would benefit a team lacking in confidence. However not only would his return add venom to an environment where he is still detested in some quarters, a KP reappearance would be short-term solution to a problem that needs long-term solutions.

Pietersen will be 35 this year and with England hosting the World Cup in four years it would be unlikely for KP to play through until 2019. He may help produce the odd series win for a few years but his place in the team would stymie the needed change to England’s set up.

The English need to prioritise blooding players who can ensure England make and defend 300 in an ODI match ASAP. The identified players need four solid years of developing their ability to play international cricket before the nation hosts cricket’s showpiece tournament.

Playing Pietersen because he’s the current choice of the masses would give instant gratification to an angry supporter base, but it won’t solve the ultimate problem question facing English cricket – who is the next Kevin Pietersen?

At this stage in the cycle it cannot be a man who is close to the end of his career, it has to be someone young who can be nurtured over a four-year period.

Kevin Pietersen may have a role to play in revitalising English cricket but it has to be on the other side of the boundary rope. He carries too many scars of the past, and at a time when the game needs a fresh start English cricket must leave the past where it belongs.

Advertisement
close