So long as his powers continue, Kevin Pietersen is, on his day, a force of nature, unstoppable, prowling the range for fodder like a Bengal tiger on the loose and the biggest batsman match-winner of his day, writes Ted Corbett.
Kevin Pietersen is unique. There is no model for his cricket, there is no mould for his character. This man is different, this is a superstar without precedent, this is a batsman based on a recipe all his own.
Some critics have compared him with Graeme Pollock, the great left-handed South African batsman from before the isolation era, but Pollock barely moved his feet. Others claim the Pietersen style has a kinship with Viv Richards who also moved deliverie s from outside off stump to the mid-wicket boundary before any fielder could move. But the murderous Richards on drive began on the front foot; the Pietersen stroke ends with a flap-batted flourish.
Pollock and Richards were both one-off players too, never-to-be-repeated examples of a special sporting genius. They turned matches, scored so quickly that the busiest scorer had trouble keeping count, destroyed attacks that imagined they were on top, piled run on run, fifty on fifty, hurtled to their hundreds and, like Pietersen in the early part of his career, were not concerned for the gigantic scores. They saw their job as being to establish the side’s score and make way for others to finish the job.
They had their eras: Pollock in the 1960s, Richards from 1975 to 1990 before they gave way to other greats even if no-one quite equalled their dominance.
Now we have begun the era of Pietersen, moving towards the top of the world ratings, pushing aside Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid, making us forget Brian Lara and Steve Waugh, demanding the space left by Javed Miandad, Des Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, David Gower and Ian Botham from an almost forgotten time 20 years ago.
As he showed us at Lord’s making 152 off South Africa, he has climbed to the top of the highest tower block, shaken his fist as if he might be King Kong and defied anyone to surpass his feats.
It was a special innings for Pietersen and he did let us know it.
He began life 28 years ago in South Africa and on every possible occasion in the last few years his former countrymen have let him know they consider his defection — because he felt he would lose his Test way as black and coloured players were pushed forward — a form of treason.
Pietersen has answered each accusation with robust words of his own, but now that he was playing in his first Test against South Africa he had a chance to ram their words down their collective throat with an avalanche of runs.
He had every right to think he might succeed at the Mecca of cricket because his average there before this mighty innings was already 72.22. He had gone past the century mark three times in seven Tests and, as a batsman who thrives on confidence, he expected to score heavily.
He had also made a century against every Test team he has faced — which means that he has yet to score one against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe — and from the moment he reached the wicket he exuded certainty.
Pietersen is, I am told by those who have bowled to him, a formidable sight as he defends three stumps. He is so big — at 6ft 5in, wide and some 15st — that the wicket is hidden. He often bats a foot or more outside his crease, his bat swings back in a wide arc and, although he stands as still as any pedantic coach would wish until the ball is released, he moves into a frantic overdrive.
Your guess is as good as any Test bowler’s; no-one can judge what he will do next. But move his feet he will, be it sideways, forwards or backwards. In the fraction of a second the ball is in the air, he makes a judgement about line and length, gets into the position to hit it where he wants and brings a huge strength to bear.
Sometimes he produces a classical shot — his cover drive is a perfect example to set before any blossoming young batsman — and mostly he hits the ball on the ground in the old style.
But, as we saw in the one-day matches against New Zealand, he is perfectly capable of a switch hit in the left-hander’s style that leaves bowlers aghast, fielders not knowing which way to move and captains in despair. The result is that, so long as his powers continue, he is, on his day, a force of nature, unstoppable, prowling the range for fodder like a Bengal tiger on the loose and the biggest batsman match-winner of his day.
At the end of the first day of his Lord’s innings Pietersen set himself another task — to express his devotion to the England cause. He celebrated as if he had just made a century at Buckingham Palace before the Royal family and then gave an interview in which he repeatedly insisted that his loyalties were to England.
“Do you feel English?” asked the interviewer. “Yes,” said Pietersen, nodding to the empty stands which had recently been full of cheering fans as he left the field with a century, and England very handily placed at 309 for three.
“There is no pleasure any greater than this,” he insisted.
Where does this remarkably talented young man go next? That is as difficult to answer as the concerns of a bowler when he sets off in search of runs.
A shot at the Lara world record with a 401? A chase after the Sachin Tendulkar records? The captaincy of England on a permanent basis?
If he is sincere in his wish to be the patriotic Englishman he must surely dream of the day he holds the tiny Ashes urn in those brawny arms on the Oval balcony with the crowd cheering and the world at his feet.
Two years ago I asked a selector if Pietersen might be England captain one day. He doubted it. Now that Pietersen has led a one-day side it is easy to imagine that he will soon take the Test team on to the field.
With Pietersen you have to pause before you make a forecast. He seems to be capable of anything and my bet is that before he is 30 he will be an even greater figure.
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