Kevin Pietersen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 England (Eng) |
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| Batting style | Right-hand bat | |
| Bowling type | Right-arm off-break | |
| Tests | ODIs | |
| Matches | 20 | 41 |
| Runs scored | 1865 | 1500 |
| Batting average | 50.40 | 55.55 |
| 100s/50s | 6/7 | 3/10 |
| Top score | 158 | 116 |
| Balls bowled | 222 | 84 |
| Wickets | 1 | 1 |
| Bowling average | 157.00 | 91.00 |
| 5 wickets in innings | - | - |
| 10 wickets in match | - | N/A |
| Best bowling | 1/11 | 1/4 |
| Catches/stumpings | 13/- | 20/- |
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As of 5 December 2006 |
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Kevin Peter Pietersen MBE (born 27 June 1980 in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa) is a cricketer, an attacking right-handed batsman and occasional off-spin bowler who plays for England and Hampshire. As of the end of the 2006 season, his ODI average for England alone (excluding the two games he played for the ICC World XI) was 59.30, more than eleven runs higher than any other England batsman to have played more than four ODIs. [1]
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[edit] Early history
Born of an English mother and a South African father, Pietersen attended Maritzburg College in Pietermaritzburg and 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. [2] [3] He played cricket for Cannock CC as their overseas player, and helped them win the Birmingham Cricket League before being signed to play for Nottinghamshire for the 2001 season. In South Africa he was regarded predominantly as an off-spinner who was capable with the bat, and impressed members of the England side when playing a Tour Match during England's visit in 1999/00. He took four top order wickets and despite batting at number nine scored 61 not out off 57 balls, hitting four sixes, and it is said that it was at this point that Nasser Hussain recommended to him that he secure himself a contract with a county side.
In 2000 Clive Rice who had seen him play in 1997 in South Africa at a schools week heard that Pietersen was playing club cricket in Birmingham and immediately offered him a 4 year contract to play for Notts. 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.
Pietersen was selected for the 2003-4 ECB National Academy tour of India, and had a successful tour 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.
Prior to the tour of Zimbabwe, Pietersen moved from Nottinghamshire, where there were rumours of tensions with team-mates, to Hampshire under the captaincy of Shane Warne. In the 2006 New Year Honours list, Pietersen, along with the rest of his England team mates, was awarded the MBE for his role in the successful 2005 Ashes series.[4]
[edit] England career
Pietersen was selected for the full England one-day side to tour Zimbabwe and South Africa in 2004/05. He played in three of the four one day games in Zimbabwe, scoring 47, 77 and 0 in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th one dayers as England won the series 4-0.
Pietersen was then added to the one-day squad to face South Africa. With Andrew Flintoff withdrawing from the squad due to injury, Pietersen was looked at as a big-hitting replacement for the all-rounder, and claimed a place in the first team with 97 off 84 balls in the warm up match against South Africa A, in the face of a hostile crowd.
Pietersen made a 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 Pietersen made an unbeaten 100 from just 69 balls, the fastest century by an England player in a one day match, but was unable to compensate for the team's slow start, England losing by eight runs. The final game at Centurion Park was another losing cause, with Pietersen coming to the wicket at 32/3 and ending with 116 from ten fours and six sixes. Pietersen ended the series with 454 runs in five innings, but England lost the series 4-1. By the end of the series, the South African crowds had generally replaced hostility with respect for Pietersen, applauding his performance.
Despite press speculation, Pietersen was not picked for the Tests against Bangladesh, with his early season form being dogged by a foot injury, but with his county form picking up he was picked for the Twenty20 match against Australia at Southampton, making 34 from 18 balls and taking three catches as England won by 100 runs.
In the triangular series against Australia and Bangladesh, Pietersen did not get to bat in the first ODI at The Oval as England won by ten wickets, but scored 91 off 65 balls in the match in Bristol against Australia, who had lost the day before to Bangladesh. Pietersen's performances at this point sparked intense press speculation and comments from former England captains calling for him to be brought into the Test side for The Ashes later in the summer. In the rest of the triangular series, Pietersen wasn't needed to bat against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge, and then scored 19 off 28 balls, 23 off 26 and 6 off 10 in the matches at Riverside against Australia, Headingley against Bangladesh, in the tied final against Australia. Pietersen also played in all three matches of the Nat West Challenge against Australia, scoring 15 off 23 and 74 off 84 in the first and third matches, and not being needed to bat in the second. However, he also was forced off the field in the third over of Australia's run-chase in the third match with a groin problem.
Speculation over Pietersen's place in the England Test team was ended in July with the announcement by the England chairman of selectors David Graveney that Pietersen had been selected ahead of veteran Graham Thorpe for the final place in the England Test team. In the first Test of the Ashes at Lord's, Pietersen scored 57 in his first innings in Test cricket and 64 not out in his second as England collapsed to a heavy defeat, becoming only the 4th player to top score in both innings on debut for England, the eighth England player to score a half century in each innings on his debut, and the third cricketer to do so at Lord's. In the second Test at Edgbaston he scored 71 in the first innings and 20 in the second, with England narrowly winning. In the drawn 3rd Test, Pietersen struggled with 21 and 0, then scored 45 and 23 in the fourth as England went 2-1 up. By that stage of the series, some pundits including ex-players were beginning to question whether Pietersen had the patience and the mettle for Test cricket, and were stating that it was time for him to produce the goods. In the fifth and final Test of the Ashes at The Oval on 12 September 2005, Pietersen did not contribute significantly in the first innings. In the second innings, however, with the stakes at their highest (England would regain the Ashes for the first time in 16 years if they could bat the day out) Pietersen scored his maiden Test century with 158, securing the match and the series for England. 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, and finished the series with the most runs by a batsman at 473 runs over the 5 Tests, an average of 52.55. However, he had a less successful series in the field, dropping six catches in the five Tests, a point he made wryly when questioned about the Australians dropping him three times on the final day.
Pietersen was awarded a central contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board until the end of the 2005 summer, and was named both the ICC One-Day player of the year and the ICC Emerging Player of the year in 2005. Along with the rest of the England side, Pietersen had a much less successful time in the subsequent tour of Pakistan, which England lost 2-0, although he did score his second Test century. A few months later, Pietersen toured India with the England team, scoring one fifty in each of the first two matches but not in the final match which England won. He also passed 1,000 ODI runs during this tour with 71 in the second ODI, equalling Viv Richards' record of 21 innings to reach this landmark [5]
Pietersen scored 158 again, in the first Test of the summer on 11 & 12 May 2006 against Sri Lanka,and followed it up with another 100 in the second Test including an extravagant reverse slog-sweep for six off Muttiah Muralitharan. Video In doing so he passed the milestone of 1,000 Test runs in his 12th Test match. In the 2nd Test he scored 142 out of England's total of 295 and became the first batsman since Graham Gooch in 1990 to score a century in 3 successive Test innings on English soil. This performance propelled him into the top ten of the ICC cricket ratings [6]
Pietersen bowled his first delivery in Test match cricket on June 4, 2006, against Sri Lanka. He did not flight the ball, but "turned it square" according to the commentators on BBC Radio 4's cricket programme Test Match Special. Henry Blofeld described his bowling as showing "enormous promise" after he took his first Test wicket. His first Test victim came against Pakistan later in the summer when Kamran Akmal got a thin edge through to Geraint Jones.
On the 1st day of the 3rd Test against Pakistan, Pietersen reached his 5th Test century with an over night score of 104. Although Pietersen retired hurt shortly after reaching three figures due to cramp, he returned to the crease on the next morning and went on to top score Englands 1st innings of 515 with 135 runs from 169 balls, including 20 4's and 2 6's.
In the much anticipated return Ashes series in Australia in 2006-07, Pietersen got off to a good start with a defiant 92 in the first test despite England losing by 277 runs, and then backed up his good form with a century in the second test in Adelaide. His third score of 158 however, only equalled his previous best efforts with the bat.
[edit] Personality
Pietersen is widely portrayed in the media as having a self-assured personality, described by Geoff Boycott as being "cocky and confident". He is also noted for his unusual haircuts, his peroxide blond dyed streak of hair along the middle of his head being described as a "skunk" and sometimes even "dead skunk" look. In 2005, Pietersen was rumoured to be dating model Caprice Bourret and she later accompanied him to the ICC awards in October of that year[7]. He has previously been linked by the tabloid press to hotel heiress Paris Hilton[8], but is now engaged to Liberty X singer Jessica Taylor [9], dubbed by the press as a leading "CWAG".
[edit] Endorsements
Along with England team-mates Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson, Pietersen is endorsed by equipment manufacturer Woodworm; he currently uses the Woodworm Torch bat. Pietersen and other Woodworm players
[edit] Awards
- 2005 - ICC Emerging Player of the Year
- 2006 - Wisden Cricketer of the Year
[edit] References
- ^ Career Batting and Fielding for England in ODIs (Ordered by Average). CricketArchive. Retrieved on 2006-10-02.
- ^ Cricinfo biography
- ^ Guardian Saturday July 2, 2005
- ^ Ashes heroes get Palace Honours, BBC Sport, Cricket, 9 February 2006.
- ^ ODIs - Fastest to 1000 Career Runs, Cricinfo Records.
- ^ ICC Ratings, International Cricket Council Ratings.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]] 2006
| Preceded by Irfan Pathan |
Emerging Player of the Year 2005 |
Succeeded by Ian Bell |
[edit] External links
- Kevin Pietersen's Official Website
- Player Profile: Kevin Pietersen from Cricinfo
- Message board for KP fanatics
- Cricketweb interview with Kevin Pietsersen
Categories: 1980 births | Living people | English ODI cricketers | English Test cricketers | English Twenty20 International cricketers | English cricketers | Hampshire cricketers | ICC World XI ODI cricketers | Natal cricketers | Nottinghamshire cricketers | Members of the Order of the British Empire | Wisden Cricketers of the Year | Old Collegians
