Pietersen to open during the World Cup

No, this isn’t a joke. If it was, it wouldn’t be very funny. Now before I slate our management team for what can only be described as a desperate move, let me molify my criticism by saying this: the selectors have generally done a good job over the last few years. During the recent Ashes triumph, rumour had it that the one armed bandit they previously used to select our ODI squads had even been sold off to the ACB. However, the elevation of KP to opener on the eve of the World Cup suggests the device is still very much a part of England’s think tank. How else can anyone explain such a poorly conceived and reactionary decision?

A couple of weeks ago, Freddy Flintoff lamented the selectors’ failure to groom a settled opening duo. He was speaking from experience, as he attributed our failures in the last three World Cups (or however long it’s been since we put up a decent show in the event) to the team’s inability to exploit the early powerplay. Freddy must have been tearing his hair out today when he heard that England were trying yet another combination. Andrew Strauss must have had more partners than Elizabeth Taylor.

What’s more, the decision to choose KP as our new opener makes as much sense as knighting Allen Stanford. He simply doesn’t have the technique. Any statistician knows that Pietersen has always been a world class middle-order batsman, but the decision to move him up to number three eighteen months ago ended in miserable failure. Therefore, why does anyone think he’ll succeed as an opener, when the ball is even harder? I just don’t understand the logic. Perhaps they just think ‘well, we’ve tried everyone else, so it must be KP’s turn’.

The selectors really should have picked a specialist one day opener in the squad – but since they’ve failed to do so, the guy that’s most suited to opening with Strauss is Ian Bell. The last time Bell opened, against the Australian President’s XI in Hobart, the Warwickshire man scored a century as elegant as anything Tasmanians had ever seen. His reward? He was shunted down the order again.

When the provisional squad was selected at the end of last summer, the man the selectors wanted to spearhead our batting was Steven Davies, who hasn’t won any games for England, but remains (alongside Craig Kieswetter) the most effective specialist one day opener available. However, after dropping Matt Prior a couple of years ago when they realised he was as useful as a condom with a hole in it, they suddenly changed their minds after watching the Sussex stumper assault a few pie chuckers in Australia’s Big Bash. The result? Prior was recalled and Davies was dropped – ironically after Davies and Strauss had put on a quick-fire 90 in just twelve overs in the first ODI (our highest opening salvo of the CB series).

As we predicted at the time, Prior failed to make any impression after his recall. In fact, he left the selectors with egg on their faces after making useful contributions in the middle-order – a position which seems to suit him much better. With Prior now ensconced at number six, Strauss and Flower have suddenly realised they need another opener – even though the squad doesn’t have one. As a result, they’ve turned to KP to save their blushes.

It’s hard to criticise Strauss, Flower and the selectors too much after masterminding our most comprehensive Ashes victory in living memory, but they’ve totally ballsed this up. The only reason for optimism is that pitches in the subcontinent are usually slow and lifeless, so KP’s penchant to come forward to every delivery – even if it’s a bouncer directed at his teeth – shouldn’t be exposed too badly. However, if the move does pay off, and KP makes a decent fist of his new role, it will be down to more luck than judgement. What’s more, I can’t help thinking that the middle-order, already missing Eoin Morgan, now looks paper thin. Is anyone genuinely surprised we almost lost to Canada today?

James Morgan