Pieterson would be a much better player if he wasn't such an egotist

[dezz]

This batsman is a great one, an innovator, a pioneer and will go down as one of the greatest of all time. However, you look at the other greats like viv Richards, Jayasuria, and warne they all appreciated the other aspects of the game, because they had too. Further more they even one matches with the other sides of the game. And this crucially was the reason why they were great. Warnes psycological and captaincy skills for instance far outwheighed his spin talent at times, not too mention the fine slipping and lower order runs. same too for the professional jayasuria with his bloody bowling. In test cricket you can never win on one innings. It encompasses everything and for this reason someone really needs to give pieterson a kick up the **** and tell him to stop being so arrogant. It would be sad to see all his batting talent undermined by his abysmal fielding, total lack of team skills and a wasted match winning talent with the ball. It will soon border on a joke.....a bit like Hick only more sad.

[Nostromo]

I don't think Pietersen is ever going to be "one of the greatest", but I agree that he would probably be a better player if he stops all that cheap posturing and gets rid of the attitude problems. I also think that he should be used a bit more with the ball.

[sanketh84]

Pietersen has a long way before he can compared to Viv, warne and jayasurya. I think he would be perform better if he didn't have attitude problems. I dont know if Pietersen should be given the ball more, I think Jayasurya's success as a bowler is due to the fact that he's a shrewd cricketer and a good thinker of the game and i really dont see those qualities in Kevin. jayasurya plays with the batsman's mentality while bowling... plus teams which are extra cautious with murali end up attacking jayasurya a bit and that helps him as well, its not that he spins the ball a great deal or anything.probably sachin spins the ball more with his leggies and offies much more than him. what i admire in jayasurya though is his fitness at 38 and the will to continue playing for SL, he's been around since early 90's and he's probably good for 12-18 months of ODI cricket.
i will have to see a lot more either 'destructive' or 'gritty' knocks from pieterson for him to come close to being labelled a great. yeah he needs to improve on his sloppy fielding and grouchy expressions.

[Speedboy Salesman]

Originally Posted by Nostromo

I also think that he should be used a bit more with the ball.

I totally agree Nostromo, Pietersen could be a decent little off spinner if he properly trained and learned off the likes of Panesar and Swann in the England squad and his old mate Warne at Hampshire. Lest we forget, he started off as a right arm off-spinner in his native South Africa. But it'll probably never happen. And I wish he'd take that bloody ear-ring off! It looks so tacky.

[Nostromo]

KP is a decent enough offspinner, but my statement has a bit more to it than just him. Just like specialist bowlers are advised to work with their batting for sake of the team, IMO batsmen with bowling ability should try to keep that skill honed, even if they are not used as 'regular' bowlers. Of course, unlike batting, bowling is not an "everybody" skill, but those on the fringe - Vaughan, KP, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gayle, Clarke, Smith etc to mention a few, should keep up their bowling skills with a bit of match practice. Apart from the obvious use of breaking partnerships and assisting the regular bowlers, this will help to keep up their confidence in themsleves as doing their bit for the team rather than be considered one-dimensional.

[acker]

Originally Posted by Speedboy Salesman

I totally agree Nostromo, Pietersen could be a decent little off spinner if he properly trained and learned off the likes of Panesar and Swann in the England squad and his old mate Warne...

Yeah look at all the Australian spinners fighting for spots in the side post Warnie.

Shane is more of a lifestyle teacher than technical teacher.

[Trescothick's Footwork]

Originally Posted by acker

Shane is more of a lifestyle teacher than technical teacher.

We all know how to use mobile phones and harass women, we just choose not to do it.

[sanketh84]

Originally Posted by Trescothick's Footwork

We all know how to use mobile phones and harass women, we just choose not to do it.

good one....i'm still laughing as i type. its a shame though isn't it... the game's greatest bowler till date(even if murali ends up with 1000 test wickets) and yet his personal life was filled with controversy. its just funny how we're talking about shane warne in a KP thread. but i'd rather that KP not take ANY lessons from shane warne's off field lifestyle. i do believe that KP does have the ability and rightly so he needs to back his abilities, not so much that he loses humility. if the situation requires u to play slightly differently, u need to be able to do that as well like the way a natural stroke maker and hitter like dhoni has learnt to exercise self-restraint at times. i do think that pieterson will make a much better one-day captain with his aggresive nature(england can sure do with some aggresive cum smart captaincy compared to collingwood's style) and also it'll impart lessons of responsibility.

[south beds mikey]

Originally Posted by Trescothick's Footwork

We all know how to use mobile phones and harass women, we just choose not to do it.

Speak for yourself Tresco. Bald fat blokes like Warnie and I need all the help we can get

Multi millionaire world superstar. He can come out with us lot anytime he wants. Guess it would be a very entertaining evening!!

[Scott-Wozniak]

Originally Posted by Nostromo

I don't think Pietersen is ever going to be "one of the greatest", but I agree that he would probably be a better player if he stops all that cheap posturing and gets rid of the attitude problems.

Not sure I agree.

What you see as his weakness, I see as his strength.

This is also the reason many people like to compare him to Sir Viv Richards, one of the games greatest players ever to grace a cricket field. Now, I'm not saying Pietersen will ever be as great as Richards, nor do I consciously offer a comparison between them, because it's still too early to tell, but my curiosity got the better of me and I looked at the pair of them at the same stages in their careers.

At 27 Pietersen has played 33 Tests, scoring 3024 runs at an average of 50.40 with 10 hundreds and a top score of 226.

At 28 Richards had played 33 Tests, scoring 3143 runs at an average of 60.44 with 10 hundreds and a top score of 291.

I'm sure you'd agree, those stats are frightenly similar in many respects with Richards slightly ahead on average and number of runs.

And that's not where the similarities stop either. Both had a swagger and an undinting self belief in thier own abilities and backed themselves to deliver. They differ in their styles of course, with Richards having wonderful hand eye co-ordination and Pietersen probably having a better natural technique. Both are big powerful units and both have that leg side 'flamingo flick' that sets them apart from your usual batsman.

When you look at both Pietersen and Richards there's an awful lot of similarities that spring to mind and if you're as mischevious as I am, you'd almost think Pietersen has modelled himself on Richards...

But what's central to both of them, regardless of what they've achieved at the same stages in thier career is an 'ego' a 'swagger' and a unshakeable belief in their abilities on a cricket field.

Whether Pietersen will go on to become as 'great' as Sir Viv, only time will tell, but what you cannot deny him is that he has the ability, confidence and opportunity to become one of the worlds greats. Whether he does or not is down to him.