Kevin Pietersen is now in his favourite position. Not opening the batting in one-day cricket, you understand, though he may come to relish that too over the next few weeks, but smack in the spotlight. In the build-up to England's World Cup campaign there has been a lot of talk about Kevin, and that is never a problem for Pietersen.
Hitting out: Kevin Pietersen in the warm-up match against Pakistan Photo: GETTY IMAGES
Hitting out: Kevin Pietersen in the warm-up match against Pakistan Photo: GETTY IMAGES
First there was the retirement story. It was reported that he intends to retire from international one-day cricket after the tournament. Not so, he replied on Twitter. Then came a real shock, with his elevation to the opening spot for the first warm-up match against Canada. It was a shock because he has never previously opened in an ODI. It was blithely assumed that, despite his lack of success in Australia recently, wicketkeeper Matt Prior would continue in that role.
The stage is all yours, Kevin. And, as disappointing as it might be to the legion of Kevin Pietersen detractors out there, this is not to upbraid him for that. This might all be to England's considerable advantage. They need him firing. Without his power and audacity, they will not win their first 50-over World Cup. After all, he was man of the tournament when they collected their first global one-day trophy – the World Twenty20 – last May.
And as a telling backdrop to all this there is the absence from this tournament of Eoin Morgan, by some distance England's most successful ODI batsman of late. Firstly it needs to be stated that, despite Morgan's Twitter joy that he does not require an operation, he still has a nasty fracture into the joint of the middle finger of his left hand. He still won't be fit for about a month.
But it cannot be mere coincidence that Morgan's emergence has coincided with Pietersen's awful ODI slump – averaging just 21 in 23 matches since late 2008, with just one fifty. The truth is that Pietersen has not enjoyed his ride in the back seat. Morgan's time at the wheel has often made him every bit as sick as the England & Wales Cricket Board's decision to relieve him of the captaincy. But now? Pietersen can be top dog again.
His retirement tale was not a surprise – such a rumour has been circulating for some time – and it was well-sourced. Pietersen simply had to deny it – accusations of a distracted and lackadaisical mind would be too easy – but it could still happen, if the complexities of a central contract without ODI cricket do not thwart. There may be no contract at all in an interesting test case. Of course, there is also the possibility that, should Pietersen fare badly in this World Cup, England decide to look elsewhere anyway in a fresh start.
