Pietersen and his early life

The first couple of parts Kevin Pietersen’s autobiography can be read here and here. This is the next chapter of his autobiography. Pietersen and his early life.

Kevin Pietersen, in this chapter reminisces about his England career while preparing to leave for India to participate in the Indian Premier League. He gets nostalgic thinking about his first international cap. He is sad that he will never be able to wear that cap again. KP kept all the 5 caps, debut, twenty-fifth, fiftieth, seventy-fifth and hundredth always in his kit bag. These are testimonies to how he has performed for England. Now, he had no choice because England was done with him. He went to Harrods and bought a brand new kit bag for his onward journey. His new bag felt lighter but his heart heavier because it wasn’t an England kitbag.

Pietersen was born in South Africa where he spent the first nineteen years of his life. Naturally, he is attached to that country but both his children are English. He went to Maritzburg College which is known for respecting seniors. The juniors whenever they talk to the seniors will have to use the world please at the end of every sentence. Likewise, when KP made his debut, he knew fully well that there are some players who are his seniors like Vaughan, Harmison, Hoggard and Flintoff. He gave them the respect they deserve.

There are some decisions that KP loathes now. The three Lions tattooed on his arm, kissing the three Lions on his helmet in South Africa where he scored a hundred, without understanding the political situation and a few others. He was out to prove a point that he is English and will be English because I remember from the headlines those days that suspected his loyalty.

Where did he belong?

Graeme Smith, the South African captain wasn’t very fond of Pietersen’s behaviour. KP feels that he deserved every bit of what he got. Mark Boucher wanted to sort things between him and Smith so that they could become friends. Pietersen was very confused about who he really was. Was he a South African? Was he an English? He didn’t know what to think. It took him a few years to realise that he is a South African by birth and an English by choice.

His mother is English and moved to South Africa with his dad who is a South African. KP has three brothers none of whom are in the public eye. The attention on Pietersen by the tabloids sort of disturbed the family. His dad would talk to them only in Afrikaans on Wednesdays whereas on the other days, it was English. The family were really close to each other. Two of his brothers in his father ran the London Marathon side-by-side. It showed the bond the family had. His parents were fond of sports. Pietersen says that his brother Bryan, was easily more talented than him but did not work that hard.

The discipline at home was incredible and they were all church goers. Every Sunday the entire family went to the church. KP liked rugby but two incidents in his life when he broke his arm, changed his focus towards cricket. KP has the highest regard for his father who was tough but pragmatic. He wanted the best for his boys and was firm in his dealings.

His idea of an ideal coach

Pietersen has his own way of how a coach and his assistant must be. He likens it to a family. The coach must be like the father who is strict and a disciplinarian whereas the assistant coach must be like the mother who is caring and loving. It will help in creating a closer bond. Pietersen also reveals that the coach must be able to fill a player with confidence. Andy Flower was the assistant coach to Peter Moores. Both of them were quite intense which Pietersen loathed. They were always about cricket and never had time for individual needs. KP was firm that if there is a change in the management, both Moores and Flower must go out.

Pietersen liked the atmosphere that was created by Fletcher and his assistants. They would constantly encourage him knowing that he was a game changer who needed to be taken care of. They never chided him for getting out in a reckless fashion.

With Moores and Flower, the team was expected to train and train and train even more. They did not like if someone did not practise. None of the players were given any sort of off-time to go around. When Flower became the coach, KP wasn’t impressed. However, KP admits that Flower was a darn good batsman. He was the opposite of KP in that he grinds all day long whereas KP was more of an instinctive player. KP had empathy towards Flower because what he did with Henry Olonga, took some courage. It started to wear off slowly. Flower for his part, was against the way KP batted. To his credit, his flamboyance did make the members of the MCC to meet to discuss about a shot, the reverse sweep. This sort of shot was what made Flower frown.

First brush with Strauss

With Pietersen back in the ranks, the captaincy was thrusted upon Strauss with Flower as the caretaker. Both of them began well in that they co-operated with each other. Initially, KP liked the captaincy of Strauss. He says that Strauss was straight and to the point. More importantly, he managed Flower and acted as a bridge between him and the players. England went to West Indies where KP scored more than 400 runs. A good performance considering the events before the series. Kevin’s first gripe against Strauss came immediately in the Caribbean where he was refused permission to meet the family who were also in the Caribbean but not with the England team. Other players had their families with them but KP didn’t.

Yet, he wasn’t given permission. I think that if his family wasn’t with him, it was his problem. Strauss was correct in refusing. KP was being childish to allow such a minor issue to come between him and Strauss. KP also writes that he was on the road for too long. Well, he only needed to talk to an Indian cricketer about on the road for too long. The incident of KP not being allowed to meet his family was the catalyst for Flower to impose a blanket ban on families travelling to Australia.

Flower explained his stance to all the wives and girlfriends. KP is the most disliked English cricketer in Australia probably because of his Australian way of batting. He needed his family to be with him to take the pressure off but was refused again. He believes that Flower did not understand the pressures of playing in Australia.

Wrapping up Pietersen and his early life

KP insists that Flower was always upset with him. Flower used to tell him that when you sit in team meetings, you need to look into the eyes of whosoever the speaker was. Naturally, KP hated this sort of micro-management. KP now is harsh on Flower whom he says can suck all the joy out of any room in 5 seconds. He never found Flower approachable or someone who could have a good time laughing and joking with the team.

Autobiography