Kevin Pietersen: Difference between revisions

Kevin Pietersen

Source: [1], 12 September 2005

Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980 in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa) is a cricketer - an attacking right-handed batsman who plays for England and Hampshire. Nicknamed "KP" across the country, Pietersen is 1.93m (6'4") tall.

Born of an English mother and a South African father, Pietersen made his first-class debut for Natal's B team in 1997/98. He continued with the newly-renamed KwaZulu-Natal side for the next two South African seasons, but a lack of opportunities in his homeland, caused in part by the country's racial quota system, caused him frustration and he moved to England to play for Nottinghamshire for the 2001 season.

He made an immediate impression with his big hitting and athletic fielding, and managed an impressive batting average of 57.95 in his first year in county cricket, making 1,275 runs that season; in July he made 218 not out in an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 352 with John Morris at Derby, having been lbw for a duck in the first innings. The following year he made another unbeaten double ton, 254 not out at home to Middlesex, in which he again took part in a huge partnership -- this time 316 for the fourth wicket with Darren Bicknell, and in 2003 he scored 764 runs in one-day cricket.

By now it was clear that England recognition awaited as soon as Pietersen had completed his four-year residency qualification, so in preparation for this he accompanied England A to India in 2003/04. He had a wonderful time, scoring 147 not out, 31, 114, 115, 32 and 94 in his six first-class innings to record an average of over 100 with the bat, as well as making 131 in a one-day match against India A in Bangalore.

Pietersen was, unsurprisingly, selected for the full England one-day side at the earliest opportunity, for the tour to Zimbabwe and South Africa in 2004/05. He had a relatively quiet debut in the second One-Day International at Harare, scoring 27 not out from 47 balls with just one boundary, sedate indeed by Pietersen's standards, but an unbeaten run-a-ball 77 in the third ODI began to hint at what he could be capable of. He played only one more innings in that series, and that was a first-ball duck at Bulawayo, but the South Africans lay in wait, and they would present a far greater challenge than the limited Zimbabwean team.

Pietersen made a brilliant 96-ball 108 in the second ODI at Bloemfontein, celebrating reaching three figures by kissing the badge on his helmet ostentatiously -- and, to many of the crowd who saw him as a traitor to the country of his birth, provocatively; they deliberately turned their backs on him as he returned to the pavilion. He made 75 at Cape Town, then at East London made an unbeaten 100 from just 69 balls. England lost, but Pietersen made sure it was a glorious defeat, smashing the last ball of the game for his seventh six to bring up his century. The final game, at Centurion Park, saw another Pietersen masterclass, though again in a losing cause -- coming to the wicket at 32/3, which soon became 68/6, Pietersen hit 116 with ten fours and six sixes, finally gaining not only respect but admiration from the crowd, who gave him a standing ovation.

Back in England, the rumours of tensions with his Nottinghamshire team-mates that had dogged him ever since 2001 finally came to a head, and for 2005 he joined Hampshire under the captaincy of Shane Warne. He was not picked for the Tests against Bangladesh, but picked up a Man of the Match award in the Twenty20 demolition of Australia at Southampton, when he made 34 from 18 balls and held three catches. England's ten-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first ODI at The Oval meant that Pietersen's next game was also against the Australians, and at Bristol he produced what England captain Michael Vaughan called "probably the best one-day innings I have ever seen by an Englishman", smashing an unbeaten 91 off 65 balls as England recovered from 160/6 to pass Australia's total of 252 with 15 balls to spare. At that point Pietersen averaged 162.25 in his 13 ODIs, and former England captains Ian Botham and Mike Atherton afterwards called for him to be brought into the Ashes Test side later in the summer.

Pietersen debuted for the English Test team in the first Ashes Test at Lord's, scoring 57 in his first innings in Test cricket and 64 not out in his second. This makes him only the 4th player to top score in both innings on debut for England, one of only 8 English players to score over 50 in each innings on debut, and only the 3rd player in history to make 50 or more in both innings on debut at Lord's. He followed up with 71 in the second Ashes Test at Edgbaston, giving him three half-centuries in his first three Test match innings.

In the fifth and final Test of the Ashes at The Oval on 12 September, 2005, Pietersen scored 158 in the second innings - his maiden Test century - to help England secure the draw that ensured they regained the Ashes with a 2-1 series victory. His innings included seven sixes - a record for an English player in an Ashes innings. Pietersen was named man of the match for his efforts.

He finished the 2005 ashes series as highest run scorer over the 5 tests, scoring 473 runs at an average 52.55

Pietersen's achievements have led to him being awarded a a central contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board until the end of the 2005 summer.

Pietersen is reported to have a vibrant, self-assured personality. Geoff Boycott, writing in the Daily Telegraph a few days before Pietersen's 158 score in the final 2005 Ashes test, described him as "cocky and confident". Pietersen's unusual haircuts have provoked much comment. His "skunk" look - a peroxide blonde dyed streak of hair running along the middle of his head - of September 2005 provided the source of much entertainment for the media, including a gag on popular TV show Soccer AM.

• Kevin Pietersen's Official Website