Michael Vaughan has pointed out what he believes could be an “issue” with England‘s decision to hire the controversial Kevin Pietersen to work with their white-ball teams.
Pietersen was surprisingly handed a role as specialist mentor for England’s ODI and T20 teams earlier this week, beginning in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka and lasting until next autumn’s Cricket World Cup in southern Africa.
The outspoken 46-year-old was born in South Africa, and will bring valuable knowledge of that environment ahead of the World Cup, but became perhaps England’s greatest white-ball batter of all time – scoring almost 4,500 ODI runs at an average of better that 40 and also accruing the highest average of any batter to more than 1,000 runs for England in T20 internationals, with a remarkable strike rate of more than 140.
He was named player of the tournament
He was named player of the tournament in England’s first T20 World Cup win back in 2010 and his on-field brilliance was never in question, although he courted controversy throughout his career. He fell out with a number of former England players and coaches, was accused of being divisive in the dressing room and was even dropped during a Test series against South Africa in 2012 for sending “provocative” text messages to opposing players, for which he apologised to captain Andrew Strauss.
England’s current white-ball head coach Brendon McCullum was keen to bring Pietersen on board however, saying he has “immense respect for KP and what he’s achieved in the game” and citing his “unique understanding of what it takes to perform at the highest level” as a key selling point.
Ex-England captain Vaughan has no doubt about Pietersen’s expertise or work ethic but believes adding another big ego to a coaching staff not short of them may potentially be an issue over time.
The one thing that I know from Kevin
“The one thing that I know from Kevin Pietersen and my time playing and captaining him, he was an ultra professional, a brilliant player, world class,” Vaughan told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Cricket Show. “He’s done a bit of mentoring with Delhi in the IPL. He’s passionate about the game.
“The only issue I have is that there are some quite powerful, big egos within that coaching set-up. I don’t see any other team in the world that has such a famous, if you like, coaching set-up. Baz McCullum, Kevin Pietersen, we’ve got Stephen Fleming in the Test team, you add into that Marcus Trescothick. There’s some really big names.
“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I’m just interested to know the dynamic down the line. In terms of knowledge and what he can pass on to the players, I have absolutely no doubt that he’ll do a really good job.”
England bowling icon James Anderson conceded that he
Meanwhile, England bowling icon James Anderson conceded that he was surprised by the appointment but thinks Pietersen’s knack for rising to the biggest moments is something the current England side can learn from.
“The KP I played with was an innovator, he was fearless, he was a winner,” said Anderson. “He knew how to win big games and won a World Cup. That sort of character will rub off on people. He’ll be a big help and encourage people to think outside the box with their batting
“As a player, he trained as hard as anyone, both fitness-wise and skills-wise but he had that ability to go on the field and have that flair. He was a winner. He just wanted to win, he wanted to score big runs in big games. He loved the big occasion and hopefully that can rub off on the guys who might not have experienced a World Cup before.”
Source: sports.yahoo.com
