73: Kevin Pietersen

104 matches. 8181 runs @ 47.28. 23 hundreds. Highest score: 227

10 years. 4x good. 1x outstanding.

The discussion

To give you an idea of the tremendous self-confidence Kevin Pietersen was imbued with from a very young age, I am reminded of a story as told by one of the members of our podcast, who has played against him. As the story goes, a young Pietersen was batting in an English league game, with 24 remaining to win. With our TOP man behind the stumps[1], an off-spinner was brought into the attack.[2] Having seen off the first ball, by all reports a gentle floater, Pietersen promptly turns to my colleague and quietly declares ‘the game finishes this over’. The second ball of the over disappears over long-on for six. Then the third ball — same treatment — further over long-on for a second maximum. The fourth ball too — again over long-on for a third six. A little more swagger this time. Six to win now. Can he manage six off two to make good on his prediction? Of course he can. Ball five is dispatched with disdain, it too over long-on for a fourth successive six to win the match in the most emphatic fashion.

Kevin Pietersen is nothing if not self-confident. Some say arrogant, and I guess that depends on your perspective. In my view, he certainly had a chip on his shoulder, and a point to prove, having left his native South Africa as a young man in search of higher honours and the regular first-class cricket opportunities he found in England.

As always, the discussion can’t begin in earnest without a trip to the stats desk, and Pietersen’s stats tell an interesting story. His overall record is eerily similar to that of Geoffrey Boycott, despite their two styles being so diametrically opposed: Boycott all defence and patience; Pietersen the aggressor, always looking to unsettle the bowler.

My initial instinct was that KP’s career would feature awesome per-game stats — it felt to me like he would often dominate a big series and that he scored hundreds on the regular. In fact, it’s the overall counting stats that are the most impressive on his resume. He sits inside the top 30 in runs and hundreds, and top 40 in average. However, the rate of hundreds per 100 innings, and fifties per 100 innings, as well as AARP all sit near or outside the top 50, which I find hard to reconcile with my memories of him as being so dominant so often. Perhaps I just saw more of his games in England, where he averaged 52, rather than away, where he averaged 44. Either way, his record has some tremendous highs, and some slight disappointments. For many fans and members of the media, that phrase is Kevin Pietersen’s career in a microcosm.

There’s little doubt that in the big moments, Pietersen would almost invariably shine brightest. The big series, the big match, a scrappy or fiery contest, that’s what seemed to bring out the best of his game. I think that he might actually have needed that extra confrontation or motivation to perform at his best.

There was no bigger stage than the climax of the 2005 Ashes series, and on that occasion it was Pietersen who stole the show and sealed the series at The Oval with a blistering-but-risky 158. He rode his luck, played a dashing innings, and England won back The Ashes on the ultimate day of the series. KP finished one of the greatest series ever played as the top run-scorer. Or, if you prefer, check out this gem from The Oval in 2011, as Pietersen racks up 202*. This is a great video, not least of which because we’re treated to the rare spectacle of MS Dhoni having a bowl in a Test match.

There’s also little doubt that Pietersen courted controversy during his career. Or perhaps, depending on your perspective, controversy had a sneaky habit of following Kevin Pietersen around. Certainly, the English press vigorously pursued stories involving him, perhaps because where there was smoke there was usually fire, but maybe sometimes they (the press) skated too close to the line. Without delving deeply into the incidents (there were a few during his career), I think an older, wiser Pietersen might reflect one day that there is a fine line to navigate between being forthright with your beliefs and tempering one’s opinion or actions for the betterment of the team, and that team’s vision of winning. Whatever you think about each individual incident, the overall impression I have is that, as talented as KP was, he didn’t get the best out of himself as a cricketer often enough, nor did he get the best out of his teammates. 

The verdict

A large part of greatness as a player and as a leader is whether they make the players around them better, and whether they are able to get the best out of themselves when it really matters. Kevin Pietersen did captain England, albeit for only three Tests. Interestingly, he did get the best out of himself in the 2005 Ashes, and on many other key occasions. His record suggests that he maximised his talent, but I’m not so sure. I have a view that Pietersen could have been even greater had he mastered ‘The Secret’[3] [4], even in this exalted company in the Hall of Fame. I also believe that some of the off-field incidents had a detrimental impact on the players around him. It’s not easy to walk on eggshells in the dressing room. Sure, there’s always going to be a little tension in a cricket team, just as there is in some workplaces, and even some families. But, as an outsider, I believe that the tension in the England dressing room was more of a distraction than the professional tension that is sometimes necessary, even helpful, in high-performing teams. Unlike figures such as Clive Lloyd, Frank Worrell or even modern contemporaries like Steve Waugh, MS Dhoni or Ricky Ponting, Kevin Pietersen wasn’t able to transcend the plane between individual brilliance and embracing or instilling a team culture that makes everyone better.

You know what they say, though. There’s no I in team. But there are five ‘I’s in individual brilliance.

In one word

Brilliant

Notes

[1] I may have given my colleague’s identity away here. Sorry Binksy.

[2] Typical captaincy, waiting until the game was lost to introduce a spinner, on yet another hiding to nothing. I had better stop here before I’m off again on another spinners versus myopic captains rant.

[3] Read Bill Simmons’ The Book of Basketball for more on ‘The Secret’. It’s a fascinating story involving Detroit Pistons great Isiah Thomas, a topless hotel pool in Las Vegas, an awkward encounter that could have resulted in a physical altercation, and finally a deep-dive into what created one of the great underdog dynasties (an oxymoron if there ever was one) in the history of American sport. When applying The Secret to cricket, the phrase would translate roughly to ‘The Secret to cricket, is that it isn’t about cricket’. There are a few cricketers that I am sure have discovered The Secret in their own way. I’m almost certain that Kevin Pietersen doesn’t know The Secret, at least for the majority of his playing career.

[4] In no way related to the Rhonda Byrne book of the same name.

Bio

Record

Source: ESPN CricInfo

career peak

Sources: ESPN CricInfo