ECB - What have you done?

I have been away for the past week sampling the delights of camping across various rain stricken sites in England and Wales, so you’ll hopefully forgive me for this rather late piece on the Kevin Pietersen retirement debacle. I must also apologise for another piece on the inventor of the switch-hit, alas it seems noteworthy occurrences and Mr Pietersen come very much as a package. I’m a huge fan of KP, and have made no bones about it in past articles, so you can only imagine my horror when after minutes twiddling thumbs as my ancient iPhone 3 strove heroically to gain a modicum of reception I was given the news by my trusty ESPNcricinfo app.

Twenty20 will miss the switch hit..

The One Day International retirement in itself wasn’t the cause of the horror. I saw that one coming, albeit perhaps twelve months or so down the line. Pietersen isn’t the first English cricketer to make noises suggesting that all is not well with the players when it comes to the deluge of 50 over cricket pencilled in to their calendars. The likes of Graeme Swann, another key performer across all three formats of the game, have mumbled their misgivings, and it is easy to sympathise given the vast amount of time spent away from their young families each year as they don the three lions in all corners of the world. It was the seemingly desperate handling of the situation by the ECB that provided the greatest cause for concern, not to mention blindingly obvious double standards.

The ECB inform us that their strategies across the two limited overs formats are closely aligned, and hence require the same personnel to be available for both. Despite being an utterly ludicrous statement, given that the difference between ODI’s and Twenty20 cricket is every bit as vast as the difference between Test cricket and ODI’s, do the ECB believe we have forgotten that, up until last year’s world cup, Andrew Strauss played ODI cricket despite having already announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket?  Likewise, England’s ODI strategy is very much based around the solidarity of Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott at the top of their batting order, yet neither name features on England’s Twenty20 teamsheet. Players of such a style can find success in ODI cricket, but an ability to nudge the singles fetches little reward in the shortest format. Why, then, must Pietersen be available for both or none?

Have the ECB forgotten that Pietersen remains the number one ranked batsman in the world in Twenty20 cricket? Have they also, in their hour of lunacy, overlooked the fact that shorn of Pietersen (man of the tournament as England triumphed four years ago, lest we forget) England hold two hopes, slim and none, of retaining their world Twenty20 crown in Sri Lanka later this year? Oh, and in the words of boxing eccentric Don King, “slim’s outta town.” Without Pietersen, England’s side begins to look all too ordinary.

Pietersen retiring from ODI’s isn’t ideal - losing a world class player and your best batsman in each and every format never is - but the needs of the individual need to be considered. The ECB have shown appalling man management in issuing their abrupt ultimatum. The question of whether they would have acted similarly had it been another member of the side is a delicate one, but perhaps worth asking. Tensions do, after all, run high where the ECB and Kevin Pietersen are concerned. After a series of run-ins commencing with the captaincy and Peter Moores saga, through to a brace of confrontations over Pietersen’s use of the social networking site Twitter (he aimed a barb at the ECB after being dropped from the Twenty20 team to face Pakistan in 2010, and more recently was hauled over the coals for a slur against Sky commentator Nick Knight), and now a falling out over Pietersen’s participation in Twenty20 cricket after announcing his retirement from ODI cricket it would be of little surprise if the ECB were reaching the end of their tether as far as any dealings with the middle order batsman go.

What must be remembered, though, is that Pietersen has often been in the right throughout the aforementioned confrontations. Pietersen saw first-hand that Moores was not the right man to lead England forward, taking a risk that ultimately cost him his position as captain in order to voice his concerns. Since that moment England have enjoyed unparalleled success in the Test arena. Likewise, use of social networking sites is a touchy subject amongst many in the England camp, depending on who you speak to, and whilst players would perhaps do well to censor some of their innermost thoughts on such public platforms it would be wrong to discourage its use, within limits. Pietersen may yet also be in the right with regard to his ODI retirement. The ODI schedule for England’s cricketers, indeed worldwide, is hugely excessive. As players age their priorities will change, and it appears that Pietersen’s have now done so as he approaches his 32^nd birthday. As his team-mate Jonathan Trott says, it is of little surprise.

The worry now, of course, is how the ECB will deal with any future lulls in Pietersen’s Test form. Previously, with England’s tour of the UAE being a prime example, Pietersen was able to regain form after an abject Test series in the subsequent ODI series, where he scored back to back centuries. He will no longer have such a luxury. Could the forthcoming series against South Africa be Pietersen’s last for England? Given how the ECB have treated their premier batsman in this latest episode it would come as little surprise, should Pietersen fail to perform against the country of his birth.

England fans will hope that the differences can be reconciled between Pietersen and the ECB. After all, England needs Pietersen at both Test and Twenty20 level. It is disappointing to see one of England’s greatest middle order batsmen handed such an ultimatum but, regardless of the fallout, let us hope that it doesn’t contribute toward curtailing an already magnificent Test career. It isn’t just England that needs KP, it is the sport of cricket and the entertainment business that does, too.

Me, Myself and the IPL...

Until recently the Indian Premier League had been to me what protecting Gotham City has been to Batman for the past 73 years; fun on occasion, but swiftly becoming tedious and largely irrelevant. Where the Dark Knight had to contend with new, increasingly cunning and malevolent super-villains shortly after deposing his previous arch-enemy, I’ve had to deal with the excessively excitable IPL commentary team augment amplified exaggeration and hysteria in to their appraisal of the action as each season passed. It’s debatable as to who has had the tougher assignment.

When the concept of the Indian Premier League was first announced it appeared, to this sceptical purist at least, little more than a glorified domestic Twenty20 tournament utilising the vast cricketing resources of the Indian sub-continent to create the greatest money-spinner the sport has ever witnessed. The pioneers behind the competition have certainly achieved that. I was wrong to underestimate its significance.

I remain very much a traditionalist when choosing cricket à la carte. Where Twenty20 provides a tasty starter to whet the appetite, Test cricket is the main course. One Day International’s are very much for dessert; a painful addition to the meal that you don’t really need when you’ve already reached saturation, but ultimately indulge regardless. It is no surprise, then, that I have cared little for the incessant stream of cringe-worthy advertising emanating from India ahead of each and every IPL season.

MS Dhoni's forward defensive

Yet, strangely, I might just have been won over. Perhaps those annoyingly histrionic adverts reminding me that the IPL is the 21^st century’s very own Roman gladiatorial games are effective at gaining viewers as well as inducing involuntary vomit in one’s mouth, after all, and like a vessel heeding the call of a particularly mischievous siren I’ve been lured in; whether in to rocky waters or new lands ripe for exploration only time will tell. Thus far, progress has been satisfyingly serene.

The turning point, it would seem, has been the rather agreeable sight of a selection of the world’s finest Test match performers wreaking havoc in the competition, proving that the cream does indeed always rise to the top. We have heard the term “Twenty20 specialist” banded about aplenty, but the fifth edition of the IPL has witnessed these ‘mercenaries’, as I tend to call them, convincingly eclipsed.

It has been a joyous sight indeed to watch cricketers of unsurpassed ability, Virender Sehwag, Kevin Pietersen, AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn in particular, unfurl their full array of talents in an environment where innovation and daring is applauded rather than admonished. Such is the awe in which I have observed their genius that I’ve even begun to develop an immunity to those highly irritable phrases in the mould of “and there’s another DLF maximum for Kevin Pietersen”. Really, Mr Shastri? However you endeavour to accentuate the shot and lace it with frills it remains a six, but never mind, I have access to an IPL television viewer’s greatest companion – the mute button. It’s no bother.

In addition to the child in a sweetshop demeanour of the commentary team, I still cast many an aspersion at the IPL, let that be clear. Cheerleaders at a cricket match? What next, popcorn vendors and shoe shiners? Whilst those good women are undoubtedly talented in their dedicated field, and provide an arm-chair letch like myself with many an eye-opener, some might argue it pales in comparison to the majesty of a Kallis on-drive. And players being wired up to the studio enabling a mid-innings chat – shouldn’t their undivided attention be on fielding in the one format of the game where each and every run is so often critical to the outcome? The world’s finest Twenty20 cricketers have a duty to entertain the cricket loving viewers, not impress them with previously unbeknownst oratory skills. I'm also against English cricketers playing in the IPL when their county is in action back home, though money is of course king in cricket, as it is with every profession.

I digress slightly. The above are, after all, only minor gripes. I’ve followed IPL season 5 in a greater capacity than I have afforded any of the previous seasons. Consistent displays of extremely high quality cricket – admittedly more from the big name Indians and overseas stars than the younger cricketers that the tournament is supposed to benefit – have made for compelling viewing. I thought I had borne witness to every cricket shot and delivery in the book. I hadn’t. Nothing that these players do on a cricket field surprises me anymore, such is the rapid rate of innovation in Twenty20 cricket, and the infectious atmosphere and adulation given to the competitors by a rabid Indian crowd at each and every venue only adds to the enjoyment.

Despite putting up admirable resistance, I’ve finally succumbed to the IPL bug. What’s not to like about it?

India: Best in all Formats by 2016?

Browsing various cricketing websites and forums, an almost religious tendency of mine during any given day, I get the distinct impression that many Indian pundits and fans alike are a little ‘doom and gloom’, shall we say, concerning the future prospects of their side in Test cricket. Indeed, some maverick heathens have even gone so far as to suggest that India should treat the game’s longest format as somewhat of a sideshow to high octane limited overs competitions.

As reigning One Day International world champions, and with the ever burgeoning success of the Indian Premier League seemingly gaining precedence amongst a number of supporters, players and of course the money men, the question of whether India are going to be sufficiently equipped to compete in Test cricket in the long-term is a valid one.

Naturally, with the recent retirement of Test batting stalwart Rahul Dravid, and the looming departure of fellow living legends Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, there is every reason for concern amongst the Indian cricketing fraternity. Augment that with recent Test performances packing all the punch of an alcohol free cocktail in a straitjacket and one could be excused in forecasting a rather bleak outlook.

Virat Kohli - Budding Superstar

But is the situation really all that dire? In fact, given the wealth of talent consistently performing to remarkable levels in first class cricket, would it be too preposterous of me to suggest that it is well within India's capabilities to become the world’s greatest side in each and every format over the course of the next five years?

Batsmen possessing the unique obdurate technical and mental qualities of the likes of Dravid are born and not made, but within a fanatical cricketing nation whose booming population exceeds one billion the talent pool runs both wide and deep. The conveyor belt of Indian cricket has historically produced exceptionally talented batsmen, and that is one trend at least that appears unremitting. Where Indian cricket aficionados shudder at the very thought of the retirement of their golden generation of batsmen, I would point them in the direction of domestic run-scoring leviathans Ajinkya Rahane, averaging 68.47 in first class cricket, Rohit Sharma (63.52), Manoj Tiwary (61.07) and Cheteshwar Pujara (53.50). After all, a top seven of Gambhir, Rahane, Pujara, Sharma, Kohli, Tiwary and Dhoni possesses a look as formidable as a rampaging Indian elephant commandeered by a tiger blood infused Charlie Sheen, does it not?

The gulf between Test cricket and Indian domestic cricket may be akin to a child’s progression from Subbuteo to playground soccer, but such records are not attained through inconsiderable talent. Of course, other highly talented Indian youngsters, Suresh Raina being a prime example, have come unstuck on quicker overseas decks, but with youth and talent in abundance there remains significant cause for optimism. Batting aside, the fielding standards of the Indian Test team will also undoubtedly be raised by the inauguration of these children of the IPL revolution. Fast bowling, India’s perpetual deficiency, is still very much the quandary.  

Powered by the financial juggernaut that is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Indian cricket certainly has the wherewithal to address such a problem, and indeed is already showing signs of doing so. Umesh Yadav, a genuinely express bowler capable of reaching speeds of 90mph, garnered some success during India’s recent humbling on Australian soil, despite at times looking as economically sound as a Greek investment banking group. Varun Aaron, another young speedster, has recently been introduced to ODI cricket and looks to be a real find. Add medium pacer Praveen Kumar, a canny swing bowler that stood out for India in the 2011 tour of England in to the equation and India have a perfectly capable battery of seamers to complement promising spin bowlers in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

Consistency amongst India’s young seamers remains an issue, but sceptics should remember that the world’s two finest fast bowlers, Dale Steyn and James Anderson, did not find immediate success in their respective Test careers. In Yadav and Aaron in particular therein lies hope that a new breed of Indian fast bowler is arriving on the scene, and that money ploughed in to developing such bowlers by the BCCI is beginning to bear a rather wholesome fruit.

Amongst my suggestions I have of course neglected to mention current Test stars Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan. These two mercurial cricketers still have a significant role to play going forward, despite the advance of years, but if anything their omission here further highlights that India have greater strength in depth than those naysayers would have you believe.

England, South Africa and the re-emerging Australia will no doubt have something to say about India’s chances of ascension to the summit of world cricket, but one key element of my hypothetical Indian line-up is consistency. Those players listed possess the all-round skills required to succeed in each and every format of the game, ultimately creating the possibility of a situation where the Indian Test team mirrors the Indian Twenty20 team. Their adversaries have no such luxury, and it gives India a decided edge.

There are plenty of trials and tribulations ahead for India’s latest crop of hugely exciting youngsters, of that there is no doubt. Batsmen will need to adapt their technique for faster and swinging conditions, as the great Rahul Dravid did before them, and bowlers will need to alter their lines, lengths and variations to suit. India sit on the cusp of seeing another golden generation break through, and their emergence couldn’t be timelier if it’d come disguised as a Rolex watch.

Will they rule the cricketing world within five years? Only father time holds that answer, but contrary to the beliefs of a dispirited nation I for one envisage India being a considerable force for years to come. Like any new relationship, there may be doubts and hiccoughs along the way, but once the dust settles India should be feared once more.