The advent of Pietersen signals a change in English cricketing values
My mother has always maintained that the English cricket team needs to include at least one Yorkshireman if it hopes to win anything at all. The land of Boycott, Illingworth and Truman binds together notions of grit, determination and stoicism; it forms the backbone of our national identity and in many ways is as much to England what Andalucía is to Spain.
If it wasn’t before obvious, my mother was born and raised in a village on the Yorkshire coast where things are about as ‘English’ as they could possibly be. A Union Jack flaps away on a white flag pole on the village green, there is a flint church flanked by a yew tree and the population of farmers and traders are fuelled with a rude diet of jacket potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and steak and kidney pies.
In this culture, cricket is of paramount importance. The best (and flattest) part of the village is tended carefully each summer day by a groundsman, the most comfortable corner of the local pub is held in reserve for team members, the 19 year old whippersnapper of a fast bowler can have his pick of the farmers’ daughters and a solid forward defensive is regarded with almost as much reverence as a cleanly executed off drive.
It is places such as these, in the far reaches of Queen Bess’ realm, which would have received the news of Michael Vaughn’s resignation as captain of the English cricket team and the subsequent appointment of Kevin Pietersen with more than the odd jitter.
Vaughn was a paragon of Englishness: polite, patient, cool under pressure, equally able to cajole and nudge his star players into stellar performances and to chat cordially with journalists. His displays of emotion were rare, and usually limited to Henmanesque fist-clenching whilst batting and applause from the players’ balcony.
In contrast, Pietersen is Vaughn’s antithesis. Brash, single-minded, belligerent and oozing self-confidence, Pietersen who was born and bred in South Africa displays a confidence and swagger that are not often present amongst the English. Andrew Strauss, his teammate, once said that ‘Kevin’s particular brand of self confidence seems un-English.’
Making his debut at Lords in the first match of the Ashes series in 2005, he proceeded to despatch Shane Warne for six over deep midwicket on his way to a maiden half-century. Four matches later he turned the knife upon the imperious Glenn McGrath at the Oval, peppering his bowling with a series of blows of which Joe DiMaggio would have been proud and ending on 158 as England won the Ashes for the first time in almost 20 years.
Three years on and Pietersen is the only English batsman to feature in the top ten of the ICC World Rankings and he has scored 3777 test match runs at an impressive average of 50.36. Statistically, this puts far him ahead of Gower, Atherton, Stewart, Thorpe and Vaughn and justifies his inclusion as the first name on the English team sheet.
But he has not escaped criticism. Only last Friday after attempting to reach a 14th test match century with a six, he was caught on the long off boundary, prompting Alec Stewart to suggest that he should be ‘disgusted’ with himself. Geoffrey Boycott added scathingly that ‘if I’d played that shot, I’d have wanted to bury myself right there and then.’
Whilst some feel uneasy at Pietersen’s aggressive approach on the cricket field, then there are others who must feel uncomfortable as to his behaviour off it. In 2004, a former captain, Jason Gallian, was so enraged by Pietersen’s cocky behaviour that he felt compelled to launch his kit bag off the Nottinghamshire dressing room balcony. Another foe is his old rival, the South African captain Graeme Smith. Deciding to leave South Africa in protest at the quota system to play his cricket in England, Pietersen forged a mutual dislike between the two: ‘I’m patriotic about my country, and that’s why I don’t like Kevin Pietersen,’ Smith stated in 2006.
Then there are the magazine covers, the tattoos, that infamous skunk hairstyle and his jumping jack celebrations along the wicket. There was even a cringe-worthy kiss-and-tell with an ex lover who claimed that he made her chant his name whilst they were in bed. All in all, Kevin Pietersen is certainly a character that doesn’t come quietly.
But the appointment of Pietersen might be a sign of the times, and the seasoned observer will have noticed that the game of cricket has received a drastic facelift in the past two years. We now have 20:20, Super 40 and ‘winner takes all’ matches for $20M. Television money has arrived, so have lucrative sponsorship deals and cricket players are now highly trained professional athletes with meaningful professional contracts. Gone are the days of handlebar moustaches, beer guzzlers and bacon sandwiches for tea, cricket has reached a new era.
Whilst people in Yorkshire and other such corners of Old England might feel a pang of trepidation, the appointment of Pietersen as England captain is a bold forward move by the ECB. He is innovative in his batting, his self image and his approach to sport – and whilst my mother and her clan in Yorkshire may remain sceptical, I think that for English cricket a bright future looms large.
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Tags: Digital TV, Programmes, Sport by Peter Moore
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