Kevin Pietersen is a really good batsman who is really good at batting

As we write, Kevin Pietersen's 142 positively dwarfs the next best personal score in this Test - 30 by Vaas and Strauss. What impresses us most about Kevin Pietersen's batting is the way he influences the situation. Most batsmen upon finding themselves under pressure try and ride it out attritionally. Kevin Pietersen's more pro-active than that. He sets out to change the field and even the tone of the game.

This isn't just a matter of trying to hit the ball out of the ground (although it often manifests itself through this). It's just a matter of moving the fielders. Pietersen can hit the ball in some unexpected directions and he uses this to manipulate the fielding side. There's more thought going into this than most people think. We guarantee it.

At one point in his mammoth 158 in the last Ashes Test, he deliberately went after Brett Lee who had been troubling him. True, he could and should have been out many times over by this point, but he recognised that as long as Lee was bowling it was only a matter of time before he finally did lose his wicket, so he hit him out of the attack. There was a lot of luck involved, but it worked. This isn't the best example of Pietersen influencing the bowling side, but it's the most memorable. The best instances are the ones that you don't even notice because he seems to be under no pressure at all.

So to summarise: Kevin Pietersen amazes us.