Kevin Pietersen has gut knack and is off home from the World Cup early. This leaves England with a bit of a predicament. It's not as though the experiment of opening with Pietersen was a raging success, but at least it looked like giving us one opening partnership that will last a tournament. Instead, the English tradition of an unsettled pairing at the top of the order continues.
Eoin Morgan comes into the squad to replace Pietersen, but it's unthinkable that the impish Irish genius will go in first up. The recent attempt at making Matt Prior an opener failed - again - and can't be allowed to happen again. Luke Wright has opened for England in the past, but he's hardly likely to be taken off drinks-carrying duties in the foreseeable future as he's doing such a great job there. Instead, there's one other man that's done the job in the recent past and that's Ian Bell. He's done the job pretty well to boot and if the current trend of opening the bowling with spinners continues, he's unlikely to be flummoxed by it.
Pietersen's ability to add another spin option to the side will be missed and may prove a reprieve for Michael Yardy who has been throwing pies so far. Unless Ravi Bopara and Jonathan Trott can finagle a few overs of medium pacery between them, the Sussex skipper will presumably remain a feature of this side's make-up unless, in an Escape To Victory style, someone repeatedly slams Luke Wright's arm in a door so we can call up Adil Rashid.
Whichever way England go, Pietersen's departure will mean I'll have to find a new phrase to shout at the radio when England are playing now. Far too often in this tournament, I've found myself yelling "KP you fucking moron" as he finds new and interesting ways to get out to left-arm spin.
No comments:
Post a Comment