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KP - SA Test Cricketer?

Gnske

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
The desiccated remains of Hansie Cronje would stand a better chance of playing for SA again than Kevin "England was a mistake" Pietersen.
 

91Jmay

International Coach
Pietersen averaged 33 over his last 12 test matches. Taylor averages 29 since coming back into the side in his last 5 test matches.

I'll stick with the guy who is 9 years younger. Thanks.
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
The last ten of which were against a pretty good attack.

Now let me wash off having defended KP for once. Just think a few are overplaying a bit him being not in your best six batsmen at the time/soon after.
 

91Jmay

International Coach
Pakistan in UAE and SA in SA isn't exactly playing muppets either.

Yeah he probably was in our best 6 batsmen, and if he could find a way to bat 3 he might still be. But the difference isn't going to be that remarkable. He was a low 40s average player the last few years of his career.
 

Gob

International Coach
Pietersen averaged 33 over his last 12 test matches. Taylor averages 29 since coming back into the side in his last 5 test matches.

I'll stick with the guy who is 9 years younger. Thanks.
**** the averages KP is a far better batsman than Taylor, Hales and Compton even now. Yeah KP struggled by his own standards in the Ashes series in Aust but that was some of the highest quality bowling you would ever like to see and really Taylor and co would have struggled to average half of what KP averaged had they played

Justify KP's dropping with bad influence for the team, being tired of his ****, needed new blood in the side etc etc but not being good enough to play for England is not one of them. England's got 3 journeymen in their top five atm yeah they might improve in the future but neither is good enough to keep KP out on batting skills alone even if KP was is on the wane
 

91Jmay

International Coach
KP won't bat top 3 though, so Taylor is your only person who can be argued and I'd rather give him an extended run in the side as he has shown some promise rather than have a 36 year old who'd been mediocre for his last few years in Tests.
 

Burner

International Regular
An exceptional 36 year old with backbone enough to stand up when everyone else folds. In a perfect world KP gets into the team 10 out of 10 times.
 

grecian

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
You missed out the "year too late" and "popgun attack when struggling against anything better" from your narrative.
In the end Marc this is just utterly pointless from us. We are arguing against a potential that will never be acted on, his patchy form and incredibly dodgy knee which caused him to miss months are just going to be ignored because it will never be put to the Test.

He's already being called an exceptional 36 year-old, and he's only 35, it's quite amazing.

Oh and he probably would be marginally better then some of the ones we have, but it won't last and you have to put up with his crap for diminished returns and keeping youngsters out. Yet as I say utterly unprovable because his ailing body is not being put under hardly any stress as it would if he were playing International cricket.
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
Pietersen averaged 33 over his last 12 test matches. Taylor averages 29 since coming back into the side in his last 5 test matches.

I'll stick with the guy who is 9 years younger. Thanks.
For a bit of context, the averages of English batsmen over those same 12 games:

Bell - 39.54
Root - 38.70 (11 games)
Pietersen - 34.10 (10 games)
Trott - 31.93 (8 games)
Cook - 30.83
Barstow - 27.71 (8 games)
Prior - 17.68 (10 games)

Yes, Pietersen's numbers look bad in isolation but he was failing against the same attacks that every other English batsman, with the exception of Bell, was also failing against (and even his average doesn't get over 40 despite his 2013 Ashes heroics)
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
So how many people are clamouring for Bell to come back into the side then?
None because Bell's been rubbish since then.

I'm not sure what point you're making here. There shouldn't be any clamouring for KP to come back into the side because he has done absolutely nothing in First Class cricket over the last 2 seasons bar one triple century against a prank team that would merit him being picked. I think Pietersen was poorly managed and made a convenient scapegoat for the team's woes in Australia and I most certainly wouldn't have dropped him at the time and would have picked him over Bell last summer, but there comes a point where it's time to let go of the past. England reached that point last summer and over the winter, they've got a talented, young middle order and I see no value in disrupting that to pick a 35 year old T20 specialist.

If KP had gone to County Cricket and scored thousands of runs in both 2014 and 2015 then there would be more of a case for recalling him. This South Africa story just smacks of attention seeking, I know their team has turned a bit **** recently but I don't see them wanting to call up a 37 year old in 2018.
 

91Jmay

International Coach
Yeah I agree with all of that, but unless you haven't read the thread there are literally people clamouring for his recall.
 

theegyptian

International Vice-Captain
KP was dropped because he was a douchebag and his levels had dropped. You can average 50 and slag off your own teammates and act aloof. You can't do that whilst averaging 30. Yes he was in the top 6 bats when he was dropped- whether he is now is debeatable and doubt anyone can say with much conviction either way. Bell for me was still in the top 6 batsman in the country when he was dropped and he was bad for a while. Sometimes you just need to move people on and start building again with different players. England are doing well now so they aren't going to bring back a disruptive, soon to be 36 year old.

England aren't picking him, and SA won't be picking him.
 

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