Yep, me too.
As for the Shah gut-reaction... I thought upon the debuts of pretty much everyone I gave the example of (except Edward Smith) "here's a 100 Test, 40+ average man".
As for what does this sudden change prove... I think it says a bit about an improvement in the English domestic system (not that there's not still plenty to do) and a lot about the downgrading in the quality of Test bowling.
As far as I know, Strauss has always opened in the long game. I also can't think of many if any occasions he's batted down the order in the short game for Middx.
The KP thing... you say would\should it matter...?
My answer to that is, yes, it might.
What has been the single biggest praised thing in selection terms recently? You've said it enough times; Matthew Engel has said it enough times; I'm not going to say it again.
How much of that has been down to the fact that, in Grav, Dusty Miller and Duncan, we've had a settled panel to make settled selections? IMO a huge amount.
If you make a huge call, cop slack from ITB, Goughie, Shane et al, what if we then lose to Pakistan? How much "what's Graveney doing selecting our teams? He's been there for 10 years, time to go" etc. flack will we see flying around? We've already begun to see it in Aus with Mark Waugh's recent comments on Hohns. And you and I know that once the press gets a bee in it's bonnet, it rarely if ever comes out alive.
Nasser Hussain said, several times, in his autobiography - David Graveney is too worried about what others think, looks after his own job too much, etc. Yet he also said that he feels you have to have some element of selfishness for top-level cricket success. But isn't that also true of selection? IMO, yes it is.
David Graveney has done a great job, for me, and he'd not have done that great job if he'd not had the sense to protect his position.
Nasser makes a big thing, too, about not taking the easy option - never trying anything unusual, knowing that, if it doesn't work, it won't rebound so horribly on you. Says he's always hated that style of captaincy\management.
And yet... that's undeniably the way to make best sure you have a long career. Take risks only when you need to.
You could say: do we not need, badly, to teach Pietersen a lesson? That is a question to which there can be no simple answer. We won't know.
I really, really hope we won't have to try desperate measures.