rivera213
U19 Vice-Captain
He wasn't as good when he was 19 and came to these shores, but when he was 22/23, people were starting to notice him and SA could've picked him (or at least shown an interest in him) then. Even in 2003, long before his selection for England, he was easily good enough to get into the SA team but chose England (the racist selection policies in SA made that decision slightly easier, but I'm sure if SA came knocking Kevin would've said thanks but no thanks).He would now, but when he came over to the UK and started at Notts he wasn't one of the best batsmen in the world.
The fact he was dropped from the Natal side, due to quota or other reasons, was part of the reason he sought out moving to the UK.
Also, Pietersen only seems to get crap because it's cricket. He has an English Mum and if he were a footballer, nothing would be said.
BTW- He was also principlly a spinner who batted @ 8 or 9 for the majority of his career in SA, only when he came here ca 2000 did he truly develop his batting. Had he continued to be a spinner, he'd have got into the SA team on that alone, but his batting wouldn't have developed as much I feel so thank god for that! Lol
Pietersen was a top notch batsmen back in 2003, before he qualified for England. He was good enough to play for SA then, yet alone now.The point being that Pietersen is now one of the worlds greatest batsmen and IMO is easily good enough to play for South Africa.
However, the point Rivera made was that Pietersen's case was different to Morgan's because Pietersen would easily make SA's test side, however, in the context he was making that point it was irrelevant as Pietersen left at a time when he was a "good county player" not the outstanding batsman he is today.
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