Ashes Hiatus

Kevyn Bodman

Kevin Pietersen has the physical qualities to be a great batsman.
Whether he has the necessary mental toughness is doubtful.

He threw his wicket away on Wednesday with a shot that demonstrated ego, arrogance and a 'look at me' show-off attitude.
And he's done similar things before, trying to get to 50 in a one-day game earlier this year with a 6.

Contrast Pietersen's attitude with Ponting's, who IS a great batsman. Ponting has ego and arrogance too, but on Thursday he kept them under control and went on to score a century.
Katich got a ton, too. And Katich does not have Pietersen's talent.But he got to 100.

Modern Test matches need 3, or possibly 2, batsmen to make big scores to post a winning total.
Getting into the 60s is moderate, but not good enough.
A batsman can always get out to a ball that would have got Bradman out, but should not get himself out, especially when set.

If Pietersen's attitude doesn't change, soon, I'd drop him. Regardless of the runs his attitude can corrode a team.

But we talk too much about batsmen.
Bowlers win matches.

Tiberius

We could enjoy and capitalize on Pietersen if we had a top order batsman like Graeme Smith, Yousef, or Ricky Ponting.

Strauss and Cook are not in that class; hopes are pinned on Bopara, I guess.

Fergus Pickering

Oh really, Kevyn. How daft. We got that same stuff about David Gower. AND we dropped him. And, if you go back that far, about Tom Graveney. oh, and Marcus Trescothick because he didn't move his feet.

Kevyn Bodman

Fergus,
Which part or parts of my comment were daft?
Fisk it if you like.

In discussion with a friend here he made the point that when Pietersen is good he is not just very good, he is sensational.True.

But in any team there are always some players who are better than others.In order to build a winning team every member needs to believe that every other member, whether the strongest or the weakest, is doing his best for the team.

Even the greatest players have bad trots, team mates will support them if they believe that they have always done what they can for the team. If they don't believe that team spirit breaks up.And matches are lost.
That is the danger I see if Pietersen doesn't change his attitude.

As for Gower, were England right to drop him, or not?

He was the only England batsman of his era that I would change my plans to watch. Did anyone ever slip away from work early because they had heard that Gooch, or Gatting were at the crease? Or Boycott?

But Gower was the most frustrating England batsman I can remember.My faulty (?) memory includes many instances of him getting past 30, looking elegant and superb, and then getting out.

However if someone were to compile a DVD of Gower's test hundreds, (the whole innings, not just the scoring shots or boundaries) I'd pay a lot for it.

Kevyn Bodman

Bowlers win matches, even though batsmen get the glory more often.
There will need to be a lot of thinking about England's attack.
Does anyone want to lead off?
I'm not in England so don't know who, if anyone, might do a better job.

tommyt

Clearly there will be a clamour for Harmison to return. HAving doen well against the Aussies for the A side and taken 5 today for DUrham he seems in form and, as he is a confidence player, I think he merits a pick. Put simply if England arent going to pick him now then they might as well announce that he will never be capped again. I doubt very much that England will play two spinners at Lords so while Harmisons return can be accomodated without facing awkward questions about who should be dropped from the seam attack it does prompt a question as to whether Swann or Monty should get the nod. Swann was the man in possession but has had an awful time with the ball, Monty has outplayed him without ever looking unplayable but I guess Swann's 47* will get him the nod. Broad has one more test to get it right before making way for Onions and we might see young Rashid before the summer is out.

dearieme

They've finished Testing so you should have finished hiating.