Pietersen vs. Cook

[flibbertyjibber]

I have long had the opinion that KP would break all English test batting records then retire and see Cook take them all a few years later and establish ones that will be very difficult to match. The way KP is going Cook may do it without KP getting there first.

Cook has so much going for him right now, good age, knows his game, in form and cashing in. KP seems at a crossroads and he has been stuck there for 2-3 years. No longer the main attraction in the side and his ego can't cope.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

I'd guess he has one test and the one dayers to come to find some semblance of form or else we might see him replaced, which would've been unthinkable a couple of years ago. One of Patel or Taylor (averaging 50 & 60 respectively for the season) to come in is my guess.

I think the fact Colly has retired will work in his favour, selectors may not want too much change at once so he may well get full summer. I wouldn't be against dropping him though at present.

 

[Uppercut]

No longer the main attraction in the side and his ego can't cope.

Gah, I hate when people spew this kind of psycho-bollocks about players. He's batted badly for a couple of years and people think they can somehow assign it to a personality trait they've adjudged him to have despite never meeting nor having any contact with him.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Gah, I hate when people spew this kind of psycho-bollocks about players. He's batted badly for a couple of years and people think they can somehow assign it to a personality trait they've adjudged him to have despite never meeting nor having any contact with him.

I have some sympathy with your viewpoint, sports writers telling us what players were thinking whilst playing is a bugbear of mine, but with Pietersen it's hard to avoid some armchair psyhcoanalysis.

Anyone who follows cricket even vaguely knows he has some issues with SLA bowling (the Cliffs Notes KP is: South African, gives it a tonk, huge ego, likes his bling, gets out to mediocre slow left armers) but to hear him speak about it "It's an invention of the media" it's obvious there's some level of denial there. It's been widely reported he sort Dravid's advice on the subject, so he knows at some level he needs help, but there's something stopping him acknowledging this publically.

 

[NasserFan207]

Gah, I hate when people spew this kind of psycho-bollocks about players. He's batted badly for a couple of years and people think they can somehow assign it to a personality trait they've adjudged him to have despite never meeting nor having any contact with him.

Yeah I don't buy that either. Honestly I just don't think he's THAT good. He can bat sure, but I never bought the idea of him being a potential ATG. It's the Flintoff effect, he did well against Australia and that boosted his standing immeasurably. Fact is he's always had weaknesses, its only now teams are really beginning to exploit them.

 

[Furball]

Gah, I hate when people spew this kind of psycho-bollocks about players. He's batted badly for a couple of years and people think they can somehow assign it to a personality trait they've adjudged him to have despite never meeting nor having any contact with him.

Particularly as ego is always somehow considered to be a bad thing.

 

[Spark]

Gah, I hate when people spew this kind of psycho-bollocks about players. He's batted badly for a couple of years and people think they can somehow assign it to a personality trait they've adjudged him to have despite never meeting nor having any contact with him.

(y) x a million

 

[wpdavid]

I think the fact Colly has retired will work in his favour, selectors may not want too much change at once so he may well get full summer.

I think you're probably right, unless he keeps making sub-20 scores. A moderate performance will, I think, keep him in the team for the reason you outlined. However, if the runs really do dry up, and if one of the viable alternatives is tearing it up in the CC, he might just go.

 

[GIMH]

His Cardiff dismissal was frustrating but ultimately meaningless. As I think David pointed out in the tour thread though, the situation KP came in at yesterday was once his bread and butter. He seemed to perform better when there was more weight on his shoulders, and similarly has often seemed to play better on 'bigger' occasions when the pressure is up. You do wonder if motivation is his problem - I'm not saying it is but his problems (SLA aside) don't really seem to be technique based per se.

 

[Furball]

Strauss has been in worse form over the past year and keeps getting himself out to left arm seamers. Where's the relentless discussion about his form?

 

[GIMH]

Yeah that was brought up in the tour thread.

I guess the expectation is higher on KP, and Strauss has the fact he's not lost a series as captain since his first to back him up.

FTR I'd keep KP in the team for the summer.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Strauss was in decent nick in the WC, as it goes.

 

[Furball]

Strauss was in decent nick in the WC, as it goes.

For the first couple of games, spent the rest of the tournament doing SFA.

 

[GIMH]

Plus if you look at raw stats then Strauss has struggled more, but he changed his game a bit from the Saffa series onwards, going after the new ball a bit more while Cook accumulates.

 

[BoyBrumby]

For the first couple of games, spent the rest of the tournament doing SFA.

Well, possibly. But skippering two Ashes-winning teams grants a bit of latitude, IMHO.

 

[Spark]

He was in very good nick all during the Ashes. He just kept throwing his starts away trying to smash the bowlers all over the park.

 

[Furball]

He was in very good nick all during the Ashes. He just kept throwing his starts away trying to smash the bowlers all over the park.

Which is fine, his innings at Sydney being a case in point - the Aussie batsmen really grafted to get 260 on the board, pitch looks difficult, Strauss comes out and smashes a run a ball 60 and makes the pitch look like a runway.

However, Pietersen has been heavily criticised in the past for throwing away good positions - it's another double standard. Sure, as Brumby points out, captaining the side to 2 Ashes wins gets Strauss an enormous amount of credit, but his form has been pretty much identical to Pietersen's over the last 18 months. You wouldn't know it given the complete lack of scrutiny over it though.

 

[Jarquis]

Also the fact Strauss doesn't have as many ready-made replacements..

 

[flibbertyjibber]

The thing with KP is his best innings have generally been when he has been cautious at the start of his innings (once he gets his suicidal single to get off 0) building an innings and taking control once he has around 30 off 60 balls. In the last few years he seems to be trying to tee off too soon before he is set and geting out cheaply. I guess he needs to go back to basics.

 

[wpdavid]

Also the fact Strauss doesn't have as many ready-made replacements..

This is true. I remember when Cook was struggling we couldn't really come up with a convincing replacement, and I don't think that's changed. Lyth's barely made a score this summer, has he? No idea about Carberry tbh.

I think as long as he's averaging 30+ per series, then they won't change the captain of a winning team. However, if age is catching up on him and the current decline is terminal, I don't reckon he'll be around for the next ashes. In which case, you'd hope that his replacement has a series or two under his belt.