You may have thought you had heard the last of Kevin Pietersen and that 2015 would bring no more of his prolonged dispute with the England and Wales Cricket Board. Sorry to have to tell you it is far from over and that the weeks leading up to the World Cup will be filled with his name and the debate over whether he should be recalled.
There is still a big backing for KP in the England dressing room, the more so since the removal of Alastair Cook from the one-day captaincy after his failures in Sri Lanka. Players only want to be winners and of course in the last three months England has seen one failure after another.
Never mind the comparative success of James Taylor, the continuing good scores from Joe Root and the occasional blast from the new leader Eoin Morgan. No-one has replaced KP and the news that he has begun the Big Bash in such startling fashion has only caused the sparks to fly again.
“Who would you rather see emerging from the pavilion? KP or any of the batsmen now playing?” asked one person close to the centre of events.
Feelings running highHis suggestion was that events had progressed so far that it was decided by those who want rid of KP to send Paul Downton, the new managing director of the team, to the selectors’ meeting a week ago so that all talk of a KP comeback was quashed.
I do not know if it was in the minds of James Whitaker and his fellow selectors to bring him back for the World Cup — probably not since they must be aware of the feelings at the top of ECB — but if they had listened to the dressing room rumblings soon after Cook’s departure they would have known that feelings were running high.
They had made their stand by getting rid of Cook. Had they another revolution in mind over KP? We may never know. It is clear that the odds are against KP playing in the World Cup. His criticism of authority in his book, his behaviour in recent years and the gradual build-up of antagonism towards him all mean a return is unlikely.
It would not take a lot, however, to reverse that state of affairs but I have learnt in the 25 years I have covered cricket for The Hindu that on the outside the game is calm, conservative and constant but on the inside tornadoes rage. You must never rule out any possibility no matter how remote.
As I come to an end of my stint with The Hindu , I naturally wonder what the next quarter of a century will bring. More surprises I suspect. Arm actions will offend the traditionalists by taking on the shape that would make a baseball pitcher happy. More one-day cricket than we have ever seen; although surely Twenty20 is the shortest possible form of cricket.
Batsmen will grow stronger, bowlers will look on 90 miles an hour as the norm and fielding will improve to at least the same degree that has been evident in the last few years.
My biggest hope is that a new generation of coaches, trainers, officials and policy makers will take over the game and perhaps sit down to thrash out an overall strategy that will improve the game as a spectator sport, work on all aspects of health and safety and try to find a formula that will enable Tests, One-Day Internationals and T20 to live together.
Cricket’s greatest strength is its variety which counts for far more than its traditional values. I want to see it grow, to draw in youngsters and to have another golden age.
