Glorious Summers and Discontents by Mike Atherton

Author:Mike Atherton [Atherton, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780857203502
Publisher: Simon and Schuster

When Pietersen takes centre stage, as he did throughout yesterday afternoon, there remain only walk-on parts for his team-mates, but honourable mentions should be made of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, whose century opening partnership set England calmly on their way, and especially Ian Bell, who, in an unbeaten stand of 192 with Pietersen, got important runs when they were needed.

For South Africa, this was a chastening day. Graeme Smith, the captain, will take some flak for misreading the conditions and inserting England on a pitch that was neither quick enough to give his pace bowlers comfort nor receptive enough to produce the kind of movement he must have been hoping for. But, given the rain that had fallen for two days, it was an understandable decision and one that Michael Vaughan would also have made.

Moreover, a captain cannot be responsible for his bowlers’ performances. Whether because of nerves, inexperience or the pressure that bowlers invariably feel when a captain has put in the opposition, South Africa had a woeful first session. Needing to bowl a full length, they bowled short; needing to make the batsmen play, they bowled wide. Strauss and Cook, who might have been expecting the sternest of examinations, were allowed to breeze through the new ball with barely a question asked.

Things changed after lunch and so came the moment, at 2.50pm – when Pietersen walked out to face South Africa for the first time in Test cricket – that the day and, possibly, the summer had been waiting for. The atmosphere was heightened because England had just lost three wickets in 13 minutes, to Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. These two smelt panic in England’s ranks and they knew that Pietersen lay between them and a peaceful night’s sleep.

What was Pietersen thinking? It was hard to know, given that the ECB had wrapped him in protective swaddling in the run-up to this Test. He would not have been human, though, if there were not a few more butterflies than normal and surely he had not forgotten the vicious reception he received against this team during the one-day matches that completed England’s last tour of South Africa, in 2004–05. They say that Tiger Woods, the world’s finest golfer, never forgets an insult; does Pietersen?

He was certainly pumped up. A quick single to get off the mark has become a trademark start to his innings, but even by his standards his first run off his second ball was of the kamikaze variety. Had Makhaya Ntini’s throw from mid-on been on target, Pietersen’s innings would have been stillborn. Thank goodness Ntini’s radar was awry, for the spectators would have been denied the drama that duly unfolded. Not that South Africa will share such sentiments.

Rather than verbals, this time South Africa gave Pietersen the silent treatment, the cold shoulder. So much so that he was reduced to striking up a conversation with Billy Bowden, the umpire, within his first few minutes at the crease. Not that the silence equated to a softly-softly approach.

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