KP: The Blog (Mike & Rob)

Here is the much anticipated first blog of OTT Sports, addressing an issue that has taken countless headlines and minutes of radio over the last week. Of course this being Kevin Pietersen, both Rob and I have strong views on this matter and so for the first blog went for a joint effort.

The much anticipated release of KP: The Autobiography has provoked much discussion among the cricketing world. KP is undoubtedly one of the greatest players to have represented England in all forms of the game – ending his England career as the most prolific batsman of all time to represent England.

England All Time Leading Run Scorers (Tests, ODI, T20)

Name Innings Average Runs Kevin Pietersen 340 44.30 13,779 Graham Gooch 337 40.58 13,190 Alec Stewart 397 36.29 13,140 Ian Bell 333 40.95 12,205 Alastair Cook 284 43.00 11,569

The questions widely debated following the revelations detailed in KP’s book are “Should KP still be playing for England? And who is at fault for the events that unfolded during England’s demise from the No.1 ranked test side in the world?”

The biggest loser in the fall out to the KP debacle is the game itself. Love him or hate him, watching KP spend time in the middle was the highlight of English cricket for many, myself included. KP had the ability to take games away from the opposition, and crucially give the bowling attack time. Of the 23 test hundreds scored by KP, England lost only a single match, W 11-D 11-L 1.

I think the real winner over the last week is undoubtedly cricket. There has never been any other year when cricket has dominated the news in the middle of October when England are nowhere near a pitch. As Piers Morgan said there is no such thing as bad press and having the whole country discuss cricket and Kevin Pietersen can only be a good thing. It’s going to help create a bigger focus on the world cup in the winter when the public scream for KP to be re-instated.

Of course KP is certainly not entirely innocent, but organisations of any kind need people who go against the grain. People who speak up for their beliefs and question authority in order to maximise and maintain the desire to succeed are critical to maintaining success. That said the Australian side that dominated test cricket throughout the 90’s demonstrated the importance of being ruthless in ending the careers of some of the great test cricketers of a golden generation.

Personally it is my belief that extremely poor man management resulted in the eventual destruction of the dressing room. Anyone who has played sport, at any level, will understand that the dressing room dictates team harmony and morale. Every dressing room has strong characters who often become very influential in the way in which the team is run. This can be a channelled in a positive manner in any sporting side and used to extract the best out of a team. For example the success of Worcestershire CCC, in gaining promotion back to the LVCCD 1 this year, was built off the back of a strong team ethic and positive dressing room atmosphere #COYP. It is the responsibility of the management to ensure that the effect of these strong characters, allegedly Swann, Broad, Anderson, and Prior in this case, remains positive. The second that the atmosphere becomes negative or intimidating, as was clearly visible on the field of play, the management must intervene. In this instance it was evident they failed to do so.

Various internal reviews were carried out in order to get to the bottom of the ‘text gate’ scandal (A big regret of KP’s) and the KP parody twitter account but ultimately these internal reviews should have focused on the responsibility of the management and root cause of these issues long before these incidents occurred. KP may not have used the correct channels to voice his frustrations and been difficult to manage at times, but it appears to me that the failures of the management hierarchy resulted in trivial differences escalating to become personal attacks. Ultimately the ECB found KP responsible. Believe what you will on the supposed dossiers but I can only assume that a number of players had in-depth investigation carried out and not just KP….

What spoke volumes for me was the decision to sack KP prior to the appointment of a new head coach – If they had approached you to take the role on and said “Oh by the way you can’t pick KP” what would you have said? Not everyone is good friends with their work colleagues, the Manchester United treble winning for example where personality clashes off the field were not allowed to affect the team harmony and success through effective man management.

What is evident to me is the support received by KP from former team mates appears to have substance; however the ECB offers very limited substance and factual reason for his dismissal. The ECB may never fully divulge their reasoning, but the leaked documents and perceived reasons appear weak. I don’t think KP was bullied, however I do think that his face didn’t fit (Partly his own doing) and his reactive attitude, desire to win through change was not well received. The sacking of KP was an easy way to paper over the cracks for ECB.

Pietersen reaches a double hundred (Adelaide 2010 – Third Ashes Test)

It may be that the decision reflected the effort required to manage KP was above and beyond his value in the side however for me in sport and specifically test match cricket match winners are invaluable. Whilst I don’t think we still see KP in an England shirt again it is my belief that KP’s time on the international scene was cut short. Having recently watched KP appear on various chat shows etc in the build up to his book release it was very evident that not a single question was directed at his individual cricketing brilliance.

I hope that once the dust settles the focus switches and we get a proper insight into the mindset of one of the greatest players to ever play for England.

The next step for Kevin Pietersen is to let his cricket do the talking and put the pressure on the ECB to select him again. This past week has given him the platform to publically tell the cricketing world he still has the desire to play for England and this winter when England fail in the world cup will give the public the opportunity to scream for his name. KP now though needs to allow his cricket do the talking, enough of travelling the world and cashing in on ever single twenty twenty competition and put yourself in the England shop window.

I have no issue with KP playing in the IPL, while I’m not the biggest fan of the IPL I understand the benefits the competition has with regards to networking. Just read KP the autobiography and you will understand the importance Dravid played in KP overcoming his spin problems. However there is no need to be playing in the Caribbean and Bangledesh competitions.

Instead as soon as the IPL finishes don your Surrey whites and play in the county championship. Score century after century and in the mean time the England team will be preparing to regain the ashes after a disastrous world cup. Cue Piers Morgan and the rest of the English public to have KP re-instated. KP said he would do anything the ECB want him to do the minute England give him a sniff that he will play again.

Instead KP force their hand go play county cricket and make them pick up the phone and call you. The ECB are known for being one of the most stubborn organisations in the world so KP needs to go and force their hand.

I hope the dust does not settle and KP goes out and scores runs and forces the ECB hands.

Mike (In Italics) & Rob