Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodster
He is clearly not going to succeed on every big occasion, no player does. He is also going to go through form problems, like every other player. He thrives on the big stage, when he is the centre of attention, when he has something to prove.
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Does he really though? His average against Bangladesh is superior to his record against every other country, this is while he has been going through the worst patch in his career. This runs counter to your argument that he cant motivate himself unless he's on the big stage.
Equally, his record against Pakistan and SA is not as good as his record against other countries. The record against SA is not poor, but considering that he has a lot to prove against his country of birth, its hardly something that stands out either.I really think this whole 'he's a showman, likes to perform on the big stage' is all blown out of proportion by the fact that he had a really amazing start to his career where he just so happened to perform in big situations. That was 2005, in 2010 his double hundred is more of a footnote, considering that England already had already put in the hard yards and were ahead of Australia by the time he walked in to bat.