Pietersen admits steep learning curve

Eurosport - Wed, 24 Dec 16:36:00 2008

Kevin Pietersen will return home from leading England's contentious tour of India later today having admitted it has been one of the toughest times of his career.

CRICKET; Kevin Pietersen, England v India, Dec 2008 - 0

Pietersen arrives back with the rest of England's squad having at least salvaged some pride by drawing the final Test, although that still meant a fifth defeat in eight Test series.

During the last two months he has overseen the Stanford fiasco in Antigua, a 5-0 one-day series drubbing in India and the delicate negotiations about whether England should return for the Test series in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

It would have been a tough examination even for an experienced captain, let alone someone who only took over in charge of England's Test and one-day sides a couple of months earlier.

"It's probably been the toughest six to eight weeks of my career so far so to score a hundred like I did [in the final Test] meant a heck of a lot to me," said Pietersen.

"I don't think captaining any nation in any sport is an easy job and you acknowledge when you take on the job that it's going to be very hard at times.

"These last two months have been pretty difficult, so you can look at the positives and when the good times come back again you can enjoy them a lot more."

But despite another series defeat, Pietersen feels his experiences on tour - his first as captain - have been invaluable to evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of his team-mates.

"You learn a lot about individuals," he revealed. "Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood, blokes I played under, said that when you go away you see how people operate.

"I've learned a lot. It's been a very interesting first two Tests to skipper away from home and I've enjoyed it - it's been a great challenge out in India.

"We unfortunately come unstuck but we've all had a great time out here and everyone has been so hospitable."

Pietersen did complain the Test series was restricted to only two matches, which gave England little chance of bouncing back after losing the opener in Chennai, and rival captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni did have some sympathy.

The England and Wales Cricket Board rejected the original itinerary from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which included three Tests, because it would have meant England staying away over Christmas.

"It would have been good to have had at least a three-match series," Dhoni said.

"In a two-Test series, if you lose the first Test of an away series it's really tough to come back because teams will take advantage of the home ground and prepare a wicket accordingly. A three-Test series is a good length because five becomes a bit too much."

Sporting Life / Eurosport

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  1. Players play for the BIG MONEY! not cricket.:-(

    From FLASH, on Fri 26 Dec 3:49AM

  2. ENGLAND TEAM NEEDS TO WORK ON BOWLING AND BATTING . ALL­ ENGLAND CAPTAINS ARE VERY GOOD . IT IS ONLY THAT INDIA­ PLAYED MORE CRICKET THAN ENGLAND. ENGLAND HAS TO­ PARTICIPATE IN FAST CRICKET SUCH AS 20-20. SO THAT THEY­ CAN HAVE MORE YOUNGSTERS BOTH IN BATTING AND BOWLING

    From Fawad, on Thu 25 Dec 10:59AM

  3. Shame on you Pieterson.
    After getting whitewashed­ without a single win, in either the one day series or­ test series, you still have the gall to talk about­ looking at positives and shamelessly you mention your­ century!!!
    Hang your head in shame and please keep your­ gob shut.
    The jokes emanating from your mouth cause­ more damage than the pathetic display on field.
    When­ you are in deep @#$%, keep your trap shut!

    From aaditya, on Thu 25 Dec 5:51AM

  4. lEARNING CURVE-DO ME A FAVOUR!!! WHILST TO BE FAIR U­ HAVE PROVED YOURSELF DUEING THE LAST 3 YRS AT THE TOP­ LEVEL MOST OF YOUR TEAM DON'T HAVE THE MENTAL­ STRENGH/MINERALS TO CUT IT AT THE TOP. DON'T INSULT­ US WITH MEDIA FLANNEL ADMIT MOST OF YOUR TEAM SIMPLY­ DON'T HAVE THE MINERALS TO GET IN THE TRENCHES WITH­ YOU....

    From Simon W, on Wed 24 Dec 8:32PM

  5. Botham was right about 20 years ago...English cricket­ is run by a bunch of 'Old F4rts'.
    Until there­ is change at the top, we can expect more of the same.

    From CHAZ P, on Wed 24 Dec 9:51AM

  6. In response to Robbo, you hit the nail on the head. The­ only part I disagree with is that we don't want him­ back in South Afica thank you. He is far to arrogant to­ be an South African and our team is doing pretty well­ without him. Happy Xmas.

    From camelbowhunter, on Wed 24 Dec 9:19AM

  7. England is becomming a very unpopular team, Petersen is­ the person to blame as he is always making stupid­ comments and statements.Making enemies with your­ oponents is not part of the captains job description.­ The sooner they sack him the better. How can he say­ they have to look at the positives if they have lost­ 5-0 (would have been 7-0) in the one day series, and­ had a poor performance in the test series.

    From camelbowhunter, on Wed 24 Dec 9:14AM

  8. Look at the statistics under Pietersen's­ stewardship! If he was a football manager he would have­ been sacked ages ago, yet he still keeps talking about­ the "next game" and "learning from our­ mistakes"! On this basis, the amount of mistakes­ they have made during his captaincy should have made­ him a genius by now yet they are still a bunch of­ underperforming wasters. However, what is more­ disappointing is the total lack of respect for the­ Indian people and spectators alike by quitting early in­ the last test. If, as Pietersen had asserted, the­ reason the English cricket team had returned to India­ after the Mumbai atrocities was 'out of­ respect', then the results should have been a­ secondary consideration and their intentions should­ have been to put on a show of enjoyable and exciting­ cricket. Sadly, as is typical of 'professional'­ sportsmen these days, their only real concern was­ lining their already bulging pockets. Everyone involved­ in English cricket should hang their heads in shame,­ and Pietersen should go back to South Africa where he­ belongs (although I doubt he'd even get selected­ for their national team - let alone be their captain!)

    From EAP, on Wed 24 Dec 8:28AM

  9. England have been learning for so long now they should­ be Masters.

    From Kevin, on Wed 24 Dec 8:21AM
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