England's old versus new
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
PA Photos
Though the England camp may not be worrying too much about Kevin Pietersen, Stephen Brenkley in the Independent wonders whether his slump in form more than just a blip?
The question is not whether he can play well enough as an international batsman to retain a place in the team. He certainly can, if only because this is a cycle in the game where the cream of English batting out there in the shires is really only semi-skimmed. The question is whether Pietersen can regain the powers that made him such a glorious spectacle and formidable opponent.
With the runs having dried up, Pietersen appears to have found life’s road an ever lonelier one to tread. Simon Wilde in the Times says the pressure is on him to produce for England like never before.
As ever, Pietersen’s situation is the most intriguing. It doesn’t seem to matter whether this fame-junkie is doing brilliant things, or looking sorry for himself as he is now, the viewing remains compulsive.
It isn't Matt Prior's glove work that is under scrutiny, but his batting, particularly his ability to see England home in just the situation he and Eoin Morgan found themselves in on Tuesday. Hence, with the ODI series against Bangladesh secured, the selectors may hand Craig Kieswetter the gloves for Saturday's final match, writes Derek Pringle in the Telegraph.
Batting at No 6 requires a wide range of strokes and nerves of steel. Nobody doubts Prior’s competitive spirit but his shots under pressure are usually limited to big ones between long-off and extra cover. In a different context, it would have been noted just how suspect Prior was under duress when England were hanging on for those two last-gasp draws against South Africa two months ago.
David Hopps raves about Eoin Morgan in the Guardian and believes the Irishman has the ability and the temperament to become one of the best one-day finishers in the world.
In the same paper Mike Selvey says Morgan is not just drawing comparison with England's best ever finishers but with the remarkable Michael Bevan.
Morgan's sparkling century, which carried England to victory, leads Lawrence Booth to claim that England may finally have a big-hitter to take on the world. Read on in the Daily Mail.
This is a batsman who honed his excellent hand-eye batting skills in a Dublin alleyway with three cricket-mad brothers — not, as has been claimed, in a primary-school dabble with the Gaelic sport of hurling. And he has translated his unorthodoxy into success at all but the highest level. Test cricket will surely not be deprived of his originality for long.
In the same paper, Nasser Hussain explains why Twenty20 has taken the fear factor out of modern batting, thereby causing so much innovation these days.