147 - another ton

[twctopcat]

I know this could be jumping the gun and people have been talking about it for a long time but this lad Kevin Pietersen looks the real deal. He doesn't seem to get fazed and just loves scoring lots of runs, as soon as he can play for the first XI (around september?) i hope the selectors let him. Haven't seen much of him, anyone know of any major flaws he has?

[Craig]

Apprantly driving on the up.

[Langeveldt]

Well coming from SA, i doubt he is good at playing high quality spin.... He looks mighty impressive though...

Whats that, another duck for Kadder Ali?? Is he the English equivalent of Robbie Peterson??

[twctopcat]

Just felt like starting this thread because of his england a form and the fact that his FC is 51! Don't even think any of our current england team has an average of 50, don't know if thats a good or bad thing!

[Langeveldt]

Originally posted by twctopcat
Just felt like starting this thread because of his england a form and the fact that his FC is 51! Don't even think any of our current england team has an average of 50, don't know if thats a good or bad thing!

Oh its a good thing.. but its remarkably like Graham Hick.. and we want someone who will be better than Hicky in the test arena...

[twctopcat]

Originally posted by Langeveldt
Oh its a good thing.. but its remarkably like Graham Hick.. and we want someone who will be better than Hicky in the test arena...

True blue, or another ramprakash. I'm hoping that he isn't, please no.........

[Eclipse]

Originally posted by Craig
Apprantly driving on the up.

That's not a weeknes.

It is if he does it carelessly and does not get his head over the ball but looking at his avrages it does not look like that's a huge problem for him.

Driving on the up is risky but all the good players do it consistantly Ponting, Tendulkar, Hayden etc.. It has it's many benifits especialy on flat pitches.

[Craig]

But not if there is some seam movement.

[Eclipse]

Originally posted by Craig
But not if there is some seam movement.

If there is seam movment then you would hope he is smart enough to hold back untill conditions settle down a little and he becomes better set.

Being able to drive confidently on the up is a huge asset to have if you use it sensibly.

[Richard]

Being able to do it selectively is a huge advantage. Ponting has it. Tendulkar has it. Stephen Waugh has it. Lara has it.
Hayden does not. That's one of the reasons why he has always struggled when the ball is swinging and seaming late.

[Richard]

Originally posted by Langeveldt
Whats that, another duck for Kadder Ali?? Is he the English equivalent of Robbie Peterson??

The only similarity I can see possible is that everyone thinks he's good and he's actually totally useless?
Because otherwise I can't see any similarities.
Personally I think he has some talent, but his FC record shows quite clearly: not yet enough.

[Richard]

Originally posted by twctopcat
I know this could be jumping the gun and people have been talking about it for a long time but this lad Kevin Pietersen looks the real deal. He doesn't seem to get fazed and just loves scoring lots of runs, as soon as he can play for the first XI (around september?) i hope the selectors let him. Haven't seen much of him, anyone know of any major flaws he has?

Originally posted by twctopcat
Just felt like starting this thread because of his england a form and the fact that his FC is 51! Don't even think any of our current england team has an average of 50, don't know if thats a good or bad thing!

Believe me, it's a good thing.
We'll only see if he has any major flaws that Test-cricket will detect when he plays. He's been playing domestic First-Class cricket for long enough now to know that there are no faults as far as that's concerned.
Some would have you believe that he's likely to be another Hick - that's totally futile until he plays at least 10 Tests. The Hick\Knight\Fairbrother type occur once in a blue moon. Far more common are the like of Butcher, Atherton, Hussain, Stewart, Thorpe, Ramprakash, Crawley and going back a bit Gooch, Gatting, Smith and the like.
I don't think there's any question he'll be in the side the minute a place becomes available from September onwards (most likely sooner rather than later). I think it's good that the spontenaity that dogs selection in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the like has been forced out by the ineligibility. I also think Pietersen may still be just a fraction too aggressive for Test-cricket, looking at the pace he usually scores at. But I don't think this is something that can't be dealt with, hopefully quickly.

[marc71178]

Originally posted by Richard
Some would have you believe that he's likely to be another Hick - that's totally futile until he plays at least 10 Tests.

I think most people are expressing the opinion that they hope he doesn't turn out that way (big build up before uiltimately diappointing)

Originally posted by Richard
The Hick\Knight\Fairbrother type occur once in a blue moon. Far more common are the like of Butcher, Atherton, Hussain, Stewart, Thorpe, Ramprakash, Crawley and going back a bit Gooch, Gatting, Smith and the like.

So what pray has Ramprakash done to be put in that list of good England players of recent times?

What "type" is this anyway?

[Richard]

I've answered that one before but if you insist I'll do it again.
What Ramprakash has done to be put in that list is averaged over 37 in Test-match cricket over a period of nearly 4 years, in which he played 31 Tests. That period was the most recent part of his Test-career.
The "type" I was referring to with Knight, Hick and Fairbrother is those with consistently good First-Class records who've been tried fairly in Tests and failed.
Interestingly, they've all done well in domestic one-day games, too, and they've certainly been England's best three ODI players of the last decade.

[Neil Pickup]

No! No! No! Please!