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Old 06-12-2010, 01:58 PM   #8 (permalink)
GingerFurball
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tooextracool View Post
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.
He averaged 60 with a SR of 70 in the home series against South Africa in 2008, I'd say that was proving a point. The away series drags down his average because he was in shocking form at the time, I reckon Pietersen will end his career with an excellent average against South Africa. This is a guy who on his first tour with England scored 3 tons in a 7 match ODI series in South Africa, remember.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silentstriker View Post
Yup, much more likely. In any case, I will back [Insert Indian Random Batting Order] against Swann in India every day. If they win, it won't be on Swann's back - though he could be valuable to keep things tight and maybe a wicket or two.
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