Kevin Pietersen: To love or hate him?

Kevin Pietersen, the South African-born cricketer who will convince you that he is more English than South African, has ascended to the highest throne in English cricket.

How ironic that this happens few weeks after I had bought a copy of his uninspiring book, Crossing the Boundary.

Kevin takes the England captaincy at a time when the country’s cricket is at a crossroads and in need of an urgent revolution. Revolution, one poet once said, needs heroes; whether Kevin is England’s knight in shining amour is another story.

I must admit, Kevin is not the kind of guy with whom I would have drinks, or whom I would consult when I want lectures on patriotism.

And he is definitely not someone I would call when I want an advice on hairstyles, as I think he has a bad taste.

But Kevin is good; he has come of age and in the past few years has undergone some major improvements and gained maturity in his game. He has developed into one of the most potent batsman in the world and is currently every bowler’s nightmare.

He is indisputably the best one-day batsman, and this towering lad has also made his presence felt on the five-day version of the game.

Kevin spent ample time working on his technique and, for a lad that tall, he has worked around his height and his bat-lift.

Undoubtedly, he is the best cricketer in England and at a time when the country’s national side is branded with mediocrity, with the exception of a few, Kevin is among the latter.

As I said earlier on, I have read Kevin’s autobiography and I have my own opinions about it as much as he has an opinion about Graeme Smith, South Africa, transformation and the cricket authorities in this country.

I think Kevin is acting like a little child crying for attention. He dedicates almost the whole chapter to bashing Smith, whom he regards as a complete “muppet”, and insists that he never liked Graeme from day one.

Now, I don’t have a problem with him disliking Smith; it’s a free country and it is not unconstitutional to like or dislike someone.

But what irritates me about Kevin is that every time this dude opens his mouth, he spits venom and doesn’t have anything complimentary to say about South Africa.

Fact is, Kevin was not good enough when he played for Natal and he knows that. He was just a mediocre spinner and from what I can gather, there were many competent players in his position. He didn’t leave South Africa because of quotas; he left because he couldn’t take the competition at that time. He left because he was not good enough at that time, although, I must say, the guy has since developed into a world-class player.

I detest the fact that whenever he opens his mouth, he says something nasty about South Africa. Sure, his father had a fight with Ali Bacher; sure, he was dropped from the Natal team; but Kevin should give everyone a break.

I still wish the guy all the best — that is, when he doesn’t play South Africa. I’m a patriot.