news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket ... 969926.stm Has he ever heard of irony??? How he, of all people, can have a go and say that Chanderpaul only bats for himself beggars belief...and as for the annual "tired" b[iul[/il - Im sure he won't be too tired when he's playing in the IPL will he??

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket ... 969926.stm Has he ever heard of irony??? How he, of all people, can have a go and say that Chanderpaul only bats for himself beggars belief...and as for the annual "tired" b[iul[/il - Im sure he won't be too tired when he's playing in the IPL will he??

Interesting how Chanderpaul himself has kept silent in all of this. Do you know why? Because he's the number one batsman in the world and he lets his cricket do the talking. KP would do well to learn from him rather than slag him off. Prat.

Have to agree, I really am not sure what Pietersen aimed to achieve by slagging off Chanderpaul. It just seems a silly thing to do. That doesnt mean I'd go and drop the best batsman we have.

Anyway, pleased to see England actually bat like they were playing a ODI yesterday, made a pleasant change.

That is, unbelievably, the first legitimate win England have achieved all winter.

Definitely.

What was your opinion on Strauss yesterday ? The first time he has looked comfortable in that arena for me. He has a couple of ODI centuries but previously I have always felt that he has basically stuck around and 'nurdulled' a century (which for me there is a role for at the top of the order in ODI). Yesterday he took the aggressive role and looked good in all honesty. This has to be countered with the bowling though, which I wasn't impressed with yesterday. I got the impression that the Windies had given up hope of victory after 5 overs of bowling.

There is, but it needs to be complemented by someone who can score more quickly and England just don't have this person, and not since Trescothick retired. Pietersen, as this tour shows, cannot keep being relied upon to get us above 250. We can give as much time as we want to Shah, Bopara, Bell, whoever - you struggle to believe they are good enough.

Shah and Bopara are fine in the one dayers for me, admittedly Shah hasn't performed particularly well on this tour. I like Bopara, he needs to given a good run in the side and allowed to gain consistency and given a clear role, ie aggressor at the top of the order.

KP is a proven match winner on any given day. There are very few players that teams can afford to carry in any sport. When somebody of KP's ability comes along then I believe putting up with a poor run of form is reasonable. The only question is, how long do you put up with it for??!! Top draw players don't tend to to underperform for long periods.

Well said. He'll be back to his usual self soon. We just have to stick with him for the time being.

Interesting piece Nasser Hussain did about Pietersen and his inconsistencies of opinion during the rain delay yesterday.

He was fresh and eager to go play in the IPL, now all of a sudden he's tired?

He was Peter Moores' best mate and didn't get on with Andy Flower, then within the space of a couple of months he hated working with Moores and was Flower's best mate.

He belittled Shiv Chanderpaul, but has been part of an England team that turned rolling substitutions into an art form particularly where the fast bowlers were concerned.

Combined with his request to go home between the Test matches earlier in the tour he's coming across like a right whiny crybaby. If you're going to act like that, you'd better be able to put up the performances to cover it, otherwise you're going to get criticism.

With the exception of this ODI series, when exactly has KP failed to put in the performances though ? His stats say it all, I'd say hes the one player within that squad to be able to complain.

Only in England would we suggest dropping Kevin Pietersen.

Trouble is, Pietersen's far too in love with himself to realise any of this.

Apart from the days given above?

I'm sorry, but I'm struggling to keep any faith in him at all. No doubt the next match he plays he'll blast a big score, but then, true to form, I've no doubt he'd be back to low scores again.

You can't keep carrying inconsistent players because you reckon they can win a match every now and then out of nothing.

Whats his average in Tests right now ?

I'd guess its at least 10 better than the second best.

To drop him would be total lunacy.

Im struggling to think of a game he has won out of nothing to be honest...I have absolutely no doubts at all that he's a hugely talented cricketer, probably the best batsman we have but there's got to be a point where you cant accommodate the player and his ego and all the baggage he brings...cricket is a team game and as far as bare statistics go we have declined as a team in the rankings since he came into the team...obviously this is not all down to him of course but I think it is a little telling

You'd guess wrong by a distance in that case.

Pietersen averages 51, Matt Prior averages 48.

Matt Prior with his how many tests ? Doesn't he possess 2 centuries of which both were against the Windies in approx 6 Test matches ? Pietersen has played every Test nation home and away with the exception of SA I believe and the minnows.

Not a fair comparison in any way, shape or form.

I have some sympathies with KP but also understand the shut up and get on with it point of view too.

He is our best batsmen though and he was treated shabbily during the whole captaincy debacle so in a way I can understand his moans.

England need to appoint a new coach as I don't think Flower is the man and then wipe the slate clean. Hopefully the new man can create unity and if he comes accross any trouble makers get rid of them regardless.

agree his stats for number of matches to 4000 test runs puts him in pretty good company [url=http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283179.htmllink[/url

That table is indicative of the increase in the volume of cricket played these days.

KP achieved 4000 test runs in 3 yrs 151 days, nobody else is within a year of that!!

Sir Jack Hobbs achieved 4000 test runs in 8 fewer innings than KP but it took him 15 years longer







No wonder the poor bain is tired

I'd have a lot more respect for him if he just came out and said 'I've fecked up. I've had a bad tour, but I'll keep contributing 100% for the team because thats what top cricketers do'

Instead he's come out with some disingenuous nonsense about being tired and then slagging off the number one batsman in the world. Problem is he knows he's undroppable, thats why he's so able to throw his weight around and get a coach sacked.

Hopefully we'll get a nice forceful new coach who cut him down to size but I doubt it.

What does Paul Collingwood do when he has a bad series? We all know he's had a few of those. He keeps his mouth shut, goes back to the nets and works hard on his game. And he always bounces back. He's not my favourite player but that is an example everyone can follow.

Only in England would we put Paul Collingwood up there as an example to follow over Kevin Pietersen.

Collingwood works hard with limited ability (barring his fielding), Pietersen is naturally one of, if not the, best batsmen in the world of cricket.

and has had at times legnthy bad runs - as did Bell.

to talk of dropping Pieterson is a joke to me - he has baggage, he should know he can't call all the shots with the ECB after his sacking from the captaincy - but he is top top class.

I really like Collingwood. He's a work horse.