Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Peter Pietersen is an English cricketer. He is an attacking right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for Hampshire County Cricket Club and is captain of the England Test match and One Day International teams.

He made his first-class debut for Natal in 1997 before moving to England after voicing his displeasure at the racial quota system in place in South Africa and to further his opportunities for playing at international level. His English mother gave Pietersen eligibility to play for England, and after serving a qualifying period of four years playing at county level, he was called up almost immediately into the national side. He made his international debut in the One Day International match against Zimbabwe in 2004 and his Test match debut in the 2005 Ashes series against Australia the following year.

Pietersen became the fastest batsman to reach both 1000 and 2000 runs in One Day International cricket and has the highest average of any England player to have played more than 20 innings of one-day cricket. He has the second-highest run total from his first 25 Tests, behind only the Australian Donald Bradman and was the fastest player, in terms of days, to reach 4,000 Test runs. He became only the third English batsman to top the ICC One Day International rankings, doing so in March 2007.

Speculation over when Pietersen would play for the Test team was ended in July with the announcement by the England chairman of selectors, David Graveney, that Pietersen had been selected ahead of Thorpe. He made his debut in the first Ashes Test at Lord’s, becoming the 626th player to play for the national side. Pietersen scored 57 and 64 not out as England collapsed to a heavy defeat, becoming only the fourth player to top score in both innings on debut for England, the eighth England player to score a half-century in each innings on his debut, and the third cricketer to do so at Lord’s. In the second Test at Edgbaston he scored 71 in the first innings and 20 in the second, with England narrowly winning by 2 runs.

In the drawn third Test, Pietersen struggled with 21 and 0, then scored 45 and 23 in the fourth as England went 2-1 up. Under pressure to post a large score in the final Test at The Oval, Pietersen did not contribute significantly in the first innings with 14. In the second innings, Pietersen was dropped twice before reaching double figures, and with England in real trouble at 7 wickets down, went on to score his maiden Test century with a mesmorising 158, helping to secure the return of the ashes to England for the first time since the late 1980s. His innings included seven sixes, a record for an English player in an Ashes innings. Pietersen was named Man of the Match for his efforts and finished the series as top scorer, with 473 runs over the five Tests, an average of 52.55. However, he had a less successful series in the field, dropping six catches in the five Tests, a point he made wryly when questioned about the Australians dropping him three times on the final day. Pietersen was given an ECB “central contract” to reflect his place in the national side.

Pietersen had a less successful time in the three Test matches against Pakistan, which England lost 2–0. He made little impact in the first and third Tests, his highest score being 34. He fared better in the second, however, making his second Test century in the first innings. He was also performing well in the one-day series with two explosive innings of 56 from 39 balls to help England win the first ODI, and 28 from 27 balls in the second. The quick-scoring innings in the second ODI was to be Pietersen’s last on the tour. A rib injury sustained in the first ODI proved too painful throughout the second, and Pietersen returned to England to recover fully for the tour of India.

In March 2006, Pietersen played in the three Tests against India, which England drew 1–1. His 87 in the second innings of the first match came during England’s acceleration period, helping push the required target over 300. England then declared overnight, and India successfully batted out the final day to secure a draw. This half-century was followed by another in the first innings of the second Test. The second innings was not so good, facing just 13 balls before being given out caught behind off a Harbhajan Singh delivery. The unhappy Pietersen was later fined 30 percent of his match fee for shaking his head and showing signs of dissent. “Replays demonstrated that the ball that had dismissed him had brushed his forearm, not his glove, before ballooning up into the hands of Rahul Dravid at slip. But umpire Darrell Hair gave him out for 4 as England collapsed on the fourth afternoon.” Pietersen posted scores of 39 and 7 in the final Test, a match England won comfortably after a dismal 100 all out in India’s second visit to the crease.

In the one-day series, which England lost 5–1, he was top scorer for England in four out of the five matches he played, and had the highest average of any player with 58.20. His 71 in the second ODI took him past 1,000 ODI runs, equalling Viv Richards’ record of 21 innings to reach this total.

Pietersen captained England in the fourth ODI against New Zealand after Paul Collingwood was banned for four games for a slow over-rate during the previous match. England’s unofficial vice-captain since Collingwood’s appointment in June 2007, Pietersen was named as the stand-in captain for three further matches in August.

During the third Test against South Africa, Pietersen was criticized for throwing his wicket away attempting a six to complete a century. Jonathan Agnew and Alec Stewart called the stroke “irresponsible” and Agnew continued, suggesting that Pietersen therefore ruled himself out of the potential reckoning for the England captaincy with Vaughan’s place in the starting line-up in doubt after failing to score runs. In the event, having lost the match, Vaughan resigned and Pietersen was made the permanent captain of both the Test and ODI sides (Paul Collingwood relinquished the ODI captaincy at the same time).

Following the news that he had been made England Test and ODI captain, Pietersen paid tribute to both outgoing captains but announced that he would look to captain the team in his own style.

Since being appointed as captain, Pietersen has led England to 5 successive victories in 1 test match and 4 one-day internationals - all against South Africa. However, since then, he lost the Stanford 20/20 championship, lost 5-0 against India in ODIs, and the 2-test series 1-0.

Personal information
Full name Kevin Peter Pietersen
Nickname KP
Born 27 June 1980 (1980-06-27)
Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Batting style Right-hand
Bowling style Right-arm off break
Role England captain, middle order batsman, occasional off spinner
International information
National side England
Test debut 21 July 2005: v Australia
ODI debut 28 November 2004: v Zimbabwe

Kevin Pietersen Hundred

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