Who should replace Kevin Pietersen?
KP's injured. Don't worry, he should have recovered by the World Cup. Glenn McGrath hit him in the ribs. Ordinarily, being hit by a Glenn McGrath medium-pace special wouldn't inflict much damage, but Kevin Pietersen was advancing on it like a puma. A puma with a bat. And a helmet...
The obvious choice to replace him would be Rob Key, but assuming that England's selectors pay more attention to his indifferent one-day record than his ability to light up the world like ten blazing suns becoming supernovae, who's the more likely candidate?
In one of the least exciting moves imaginable, we'd go for Ed Joyce. Other candidates are Owais Shah, who the selectors don't seem overly keen on and for an outside bet, what about Mal Loye?
Theoretically, Mal Loye would make a decent replacement for Pietersen. He's a fantastic, aggressive one-day batsman with bags of experience who knows his game inside out. 'Knowing your game' is key these days, even though it's always cricket and therefore isn't rare knowledge.
Our reservation with Mal Loye and indeed with virtually all the prospective candidates is that he's never played in a particularly pressured environment. Say what you like about any county match, there isn't a single situation that comes close to international cricket.
It's one of the great mysteries that England can hand out so many one-day debuts and yet still have so few players with international experience from which to choose.
The obvious choice to replace him would be Rob Key, but assuming that England's selectors pay more attention to his indifferent one-day record than his ability to light up the world like ten blazing suns becoming supernovae, who's the more likely candidate?
In one of the least exciting moves imaginable, we'd go for Ed Joyce. Other candidates are Owais Shah, who the selectors don't seem overly keen on and for an outside bet, what about Mal Loye?
Theoretically, Mal Loye would make a decent replacement for Pietersen. He's a fantastic, aggressive one-day batsman with bags of experience who knows his game inside out. 'Knowing your game' is key these days, even though it's always cricket and therefore isn't rare knowledge.
Our reservation with Mal Loye and indeed with virtually all the prospective candidates is that he's never played in a particularly pressured environment. Say what you like about any county match, there isn't a single situation that comes close to international cricket.
It's one of the great mysteries that England can hand out so many one-day debuts and yet still have so few players with international experience from which to choose.
Labels: injuries, Kevin Pietersen, Mal Loye
