Pietersen and County cricket

This is the fifth part of the Kevin Pietersen’s autobiography.

Just before the T20 World Cup in 2009, England ended up playing more than 10 Tests with a handful of ODIs. Kevin was terribly tired. Anyway, during the World Cup, England qualified for the semi-finals but KP had to leave the tour for just a day to be with his wife who was about to give birth. Some players were grumpy about it. This is a surprise because I see English and Australian players go back to their country to be with their wives before the birth of a child. Anyway, Pietersen went back to South Africa within a day and was instrumental in England winning the World T20. He was the player of the tournament. His cricket took a backseat as soon as he reached England because now it was all about the child.

Though he was the man of the series at the World Cup, his Test form wasn’t that great. He hadn’t scored a 100 in a longtime and was afraid that he was about to be dropped. When the scores from the Pakistan series was meagre, ECB decided to drop him. Flower, says KP, was very happy. KP asked Flower whether he would inform the media that he was dropped or was he rested? Flower casually told him that we would tell them that you are dropped. Well, KP, if your form wasn’t that good, it was alright to be dropped. That evening, he sent a text message to Warne abusing the ECB but it wasn’t a text message but a Tweet from the Blackberry.

The criticisms

Geoff Miller, the selection committee chairman wasn’t amused and he demanded an apology. Anyway, KP was dropped. Hampshire, with whom Kevin had some animosity wasn’t willing to allow him to play for them so that he could regain form. Next comes Graeme Swann’s comments. “Kevin is a world-class player but he upsets people wherever he goes”. Kevin believes that Swann did not see where he was coming from. Born in South Africa, KP was a spinner to begin with and not that good with the bat. He practised with his friend in South Africa to improve his cricket. Slowly, he became a better batsman when Clive Rice saw him. He invited him to play in the English league.

Now, he had to choose because Ali Bacher the President of Cricket South Africa did not assure him of his future in South African cricket. Hence, he chooses the England offer. Having done that, he criticised the South African system which didn’t allow for talent to come through. KP regrets what he said. Back then, at 20, he looked at his situation alone and did not account for what South African cricket and the country in general was trying to do. Of giving the blacks and the coloured an opportunity. Then, he talks about his Nottinghamshire days. Clive Rice was the coach who took him under his wing and told him that he would bat at number 6 throughout the season and that he needed KP to score lots of runs. KP felt delighted because this was the sort of confidence booster he was looking for.

The County season

In the first season, he scored bucketload of runs but season 2 wasn’t that great. Again, he was among the runs in season 3 but the County was relegated to Division 2. Some of the players did not mind that so long as they got their pay but KP disliked that attitude. He wanted to challenge himself among the best and the best were in Division 1. Hence, he told the Nottinghamshire captain that he would leave. The captain was furious and threw the kit out of the balcony. He stayed with Richard Logan who became a good friend. Around this time, the requirement of 4 years residency permit to stay in England was about to be completed and if KP could score consistently, he could be picked for England.

He continued with Notts and again scored a lot of runs. The County was promoted to Division 1. The County then told everyone that a new contract would be made available to everyone but when his friend Logan did not get the contract, KP had enough and decided to leave. He chose to support his friend who looked after him in the initial years when he had nowhere to go. It was then Shane Warne asked him to join Hampshire where he was the captain. KP liked the offer and he agreed. His friend Logan was also picked by Hampshire. This is where is he reveals that his friendships last. He and Logan are still best friends and so are Ashely Giles, Simon Jones and Shane Warne. KP does not mind antagonising others if it means supporting his friends.

Wrapping up Pietersen and County cricket

Onto Hampshire. Why did he leave Hampshire? It wasn’t because of any feud with the County or any of the players. It was just that he hardly played for Hampshire. In 3 years, he played only 6 games for Hampshire. They mutually parted ways. All of these was in response to Swann’s comment. He was picked for the ODI team in the series in South Africa where the treatment meted out to him by the spectators was raw. He was abused everywhere. Vaughan who was the captain, told his players that any South African player who abuses Pietersen will get in return 10 times to that effect. Then, he was in the Ashes squad of 2005.