Romeo
2 Oct 2006, 22:42
In view of the recent criticism of Punter by ex-Aussie players and other pundits I thought it reasonable to post it outside of the KP thread. Also topical in view of the upcoming series which will feature both. He also takes the opportunity to hit out at the quota system agains and Prince becoming captain of SA and says because of this SA cricket is going downhill. He thinks that Cronje was an inspiration though.
The TimesOctober 02, 2006
Pieterson pays tribute to 'genius' of Ponting
By John Westerby
England batsman has taken an unusual step in the customary Ashes war of words by praising two of the biggest adversaries
http://images.thetimes.co.uk/images/trans.gifIT HAS become traditional at this time in the cricketing calendar, only seven weeks before the start of the Ashes series, for the likely protagonists from both teams to warm themselves up with a carefully planned war of words.
But Kevin Pietersen, to state the obvious, is no traditionalist. While Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath have been keeping their predictable part of the bargain in recent weeks with barbs aimed at the self- esteem of England players, Pietersen has been lavish in his praise for the Australia captain.
[/URL] (http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/)Before the 2005 Ashes series, England players were careful not to be too reverential about their opponents, one aspect of the aggressive approach that would later undermine Australia in the series. Now, though, Pietersen is only too happy to name Ponting as the batsman he seeks to emulate.
“He’s a genius,” Pietersen says in an interview with Piers Morgan in GQ magazine. “I would love to get to that level, when you go out and expect to score a hundred. I mean, when Ponting is out there, you think, ‘Crikey, here we go.’ He is an entertainer, he will hit the first ball for six if he can.”
Since Pietersen’s extraordinary innings of 158 at the Brit Oval last September clinched the Ashes for England, the Australia captain has responded with a phenomenal run of form, bringing him eight centuries in 12 Tests. In the same time, Pietersen, while still advancing his reputation, has made four hundreds in 13 Tests for England.
The relative success of Ponting and Pietersen will be a key battle in the forthcoming series, but the England batsman’s duel with Shane Warne will be of greater importance. As a friend and team-mate of Warne at Hampshire, Pietersen feels that he is familiar with the leg spinner’s renowned psychological ploys.
“Shane’s good, very good [at sledging],” he says. “His basic technique is to tell you constantly that you’re not as good as you think you are, until eventually you start to agree with him. Because, let’s face it, he’s Shane Warne, legend, the greatest spin bowler of all time.So the thing to do is ignore his abuse, try and knock him out of your mind and concentrate on the ball. But if you don’t know the bloke, then you are intimidated by him and if you’re not right there, on your game, you’re in big trouble.” If a fondness for all things Australian seems to be creeping into Pietersen’s words, the same cannot be said of his feelings towards his native South Africa. Pietersen left his homeland to pursue his fortune in England because of what he saw as the inequities of life for an aspirational young white cricketer in post- apartheid South Africa. His struggles with the quota system led to his decision to leave for England and he strongly criticises the most recent example of transformation politics in cricket, the appointment of Ashwell Price as captain for South Africa’s two most recent Test matches.
“I just thought it [Prince’s appointment] was further evidence that things were going downhill,” Pietersen’s says. “It’s got nothing to do with the colour of his skin. It’s just that better players are being left out for political reasons and until that system changes, South African sport will continue to go downhill.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/images/white.gifNI_MPU('middle');dcmaxversion = 9dcminversion = 3DoOn Error Resume Nextplugin = (IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash." & dcmaxversion & "")))If plugin = true Then Exit Dodcmaxversion = dcmaxversion - 1Loop While dcmaxversion >= dcminversion[URL="http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/"] (http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/)“I’ve got some mates who are now on the fringes of playing domestic cricket in South Africa who are better than three or four of those players in the South African side.”
Pietersen’s feelings about the quota system in domestic cricket do not seem to have softened with his time away from South Africa. “I’ve got a very good mate who is a better player than me,” he says. “He’s called Grant Roley. He is now working for the breweries in South Africa because he can’t get in the team for political reasons. And that’s wrong.
“I think every single team should be picked on merit, nothing else. If you’re good enough, you play; if you’re not good enough, you don’t play. It’s got nothing to do with racism. The only thing that mattered to me was that I couldn’t get in the team because I was white, which was ridiculous.”
LIFE WITHOUT RESERVATIONS
ALWAYS keen to emphasise that fame is a by-product of his success, rather than the motivation behind it, Pietersen offers the following example of his awareness that life in the public eye can be a bittersweet experience.
“My mate rang up Nobu [the fashionable London restaurant] to try and book us a table for dinner and they said, ‘Sorry, we’re fully booked.’ So he rang back later and said, ‘I’m coming with Kevin Pietersen’ and they said, ‘OK, no problem.’ “That’s fantastic, but I don’t like to chuck it around. And there’s always a downside because at the end of dinner there were paparazzi outside.”
Why discipline has become a watchword
AS A child in South Africa, Pietersen had a strict upbringing. He was regularly caned by his father, which he believes played an important part in his development, but he is not sure whether he would cane his children.
“I don’t think Jessica [Taylor, his fiancée, the singer with Liberty X] would allow me,” he says. “It’s a difficult one. It’s hard in this country now to discipline your kids because of all these laws that have come in. I think a good clout did me the world of good.
“I’m very old-fashioned about these things. I believe in things like discipline and competitiveness. I’m a very simple bloke. I don’t believe in psychologists and all that stuff.”
Discipline may be one of his watchwords, but Pietersen also shares with many South Africans a willingness to forgive Hansie Cronje, the former captain who was exposed as a betting cheat.
“Everyone makes mistakes and Hansie made a big one,” Pietersen said. “But I think Hansie copped a lot more than he should have. I think he took the brunt for a lot of players. “There are a lot of people out there who have done stuff that people don’t know about who got away with it. He [Hansie] was a great captain and an inspiration to millions.”
PIERS MORGAN
The TimesOctober 02, 2006
Pieterson pays tribute to 'genius' of Ponting
By John Westerby
England batsman has taken an unusual step in the customary Ashes war of words by praising two of the biggest adversaries
http://images.thetimes.co.uk/images/trans.gifIT HAS become traditional at this time in the cricketing calendar, only seven weeks before the start of the Ashes series, for the likely protagonists from both teams to warm themselves up with a carefully planned war of words.
But Kevin Pietersen, to state the obvious, is no traditionalist. While Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath have been keeping their predictable part of the bargain in recent weeks with barbs aimed at the self- esteem of England players, Pietersen has been lavish in his praise for the Australia captain.
[/URL] (http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/)Before the 2005 Ashes series, England players were careful not to be too reverential about their opponents, one aspect of the aggressive approach that would later undermine Australia in the series. Now, though, Pietersen is only too happy to name Ponting as the batsman he seeks to emulate.
“He’s a genius,” Pietersen says in an interview with Piers Morgan in GQ magazine. “I would love to get to that level, when you go out and expect to score a hundred. I mean, when Ponting is out there, you think, ‘Crikey, here we go.’ He is an entertainer, he will hit the first ball for six if he can.”
Since Pietersen’s extraordinary innings of 158 at the Brit Oval last September clinched the Ashes for England, the Australia captain has responded with a phenomenal run of form, bringing him eight centuries in 12 Tests. In the same time, Pietersen, while still advancing his reputation, has made four hundreds in 13 Tests for England.
The relative success of Ponting and Pietersen will be a key battle in the forthcoming series, but the England batsman’s duel with Shane Warne will be of greater importance. As a friend and team-mate of Warne at Hampshire, Pietersen feels that he is familiar with the leg spinner’s renowned psychological ploys.
“Shane’s good, very good [at sledging],” he says. “His basic technique is to tell you constantly that you’re not as good as you think you are, until eventually you start to agree with him. Because, let’s face it, he’s Shane Warne, legend, the greatest spin bowler of all time.So the thing to do is ignore his abuse, try and knock him out of your mind and concentrate on the ball. But if you don’t know the bloke, then you are intimidated by him and if you’re not right there, on your game, you’re in big trouble.” If a fondness for all things Australian seems to be creeping into Pietersen’s words, the same cannot be said of his feelings towards his native South Africa. Pietersen left his homeland to pursue his fortune in England because of what he saw as the inequities of life for an aspirational young white cricketer in post- apartheid South Africa. His struggles with the quota system led to his decision to leave for England and he strongly criticises the most recent example of transformation politics in cricket, the appointment of Ashwell Price as captain for South Africa’s two most recent Test matches.
“I just thought it [Prince’s appointment] was further evidence that things were going downhill,” Pietersen’s says. “It’s got nothing to do with the colour of his skin. It’s just that better players are being left out for political reasons and until that system changes, South African sport will continue to go downhill.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/images/white.gifNI_MPU('middle');dcmaxversion = 9dcminversion = 3DoOn Error Resume Nextplugin = (IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash." & dcmaxversion & "")))If plugin = true Then Exit Dodcmaxversion = dcmaxversion - 1Loop While dcmaxversion >= dcminversion[URL="http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/"] (http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/)“I’ve got some mates who are now on the fringes of playing domestic cricket in South Africa who are better than three or four of those players in the South African side.”
Pietersen’s feelings about the quota system in domestic cricket do not seem to have softened with his time away from South Africa. “I’ve got a very good mate who is a better player than me,” he says. “He’s called Grant Roley. He is now working for the breweries in South Africa because he can’t get in the team for political reasons. And that’s wrong.
“I think every single team should be picked on merit, nothing else. If you’re good enough, you play; if you’re not good enough, you don’t play. It’s got nothing to do with racism. The only thing that mattered to me was that I couldn’t get in the team because I was white, which was ridiculous.”
LIFE WITHOUT RESERVATIONS
ALWAYS keen to emphasise that fame is a by-product of his success, rather than the motivation behind it, Pietersen offers the following example of his awareness that life in the public eye can be a bittersweet experience.
“My mate rang up Nobu [the fashionable London restaurant] to try and book us a table for dinner and they said, ‘Sorry, we’re fully booked.’ So he rang back later and said, ‘I’m coming with Kevin Pietersen’ and they said, ‘OK, no problem.’ “That’s fantastic, but I don’t like to chuck it around. And there’s always a downside because at the end of dinner there were paparazzi outside.”
Why discipline has become a watchword
AS A child in South Africa, Pietersen had a strict upbringing. He was regularly caned by his father, which he believes played an important part in his development, but he is not sure whether he would cane his children.
“I don’t think Jessica [Taylor, his fiancée, the singer with Liberty X] would allow me,” he says. “It’s a difficult one. It’s hard in this country now to discipline your kids because of all these laws that have come in. I think a good clout did me the world of good.
“I’m very old-fashioned about these things. I believe in things like discipline and competitiveness. I’m a very simple bloke. I don’t believe in psychologists and all that stuff.”
Discipline may be one of his watchwords, but Pietersen also shares with many South Africans a willingness to forgive Hansie Cronje, the former captain who was exposed as a betting cheat.
“Everyone makes mistakes and Hansie made a big one,” Pietersen said. “But I think Hansie copped a lot more than he should have. I think he took the brunt for a lot of players. “There are a lot of people out there who have done stuff that people don’t know about who got away with it. He [Hansie] was a great captain and an inspiration to millions.”
PIERS MORGAN