The Googly

Kevin Pietersen: genius?

It’s a fashionable word to describe people of rare ability, the word genius. It’s equally fashionable to despise its incorrect usage, which is what I tend to favour. Let’s consult the dictionary, which defines it accordingly:

genius noun (geniuses or in sense 5 genii) 1 someone who has outstanding creative or intellectual ability. 2 such ability. 3 a person who exerts a powerful influence on another (whether good or bad). 4 Roman mythol a guardian spirit. 5 formal a quality or attitude with which something (eg a country or a period of time) is identified or typically associated

Is Kevin Pietersen a creator? Yes, he is, but then so are most cricketers. A creator spawns new form and, since no player is identical, they are effectively each doing something different from eachother and creating something. I’m playing devil’s advocate here, of course, but why not.

After his two hundreds against Sri Lanka this series, the word was uttered by everyone (probably including me. I’m nothing if not a contradiction), so it was interesting to read an article penned by Mike Brearley, the former England captain, in which he states his case against the premature labelling of Pietersen as a genius. It’s worth a read.

He begins:

Pietersen is, or has the makings of, a genius. We have to see how he fares against sides with real depth of fast bowling, but I’m sure he’ll do better than most even if some team manages to match the great West Indies sides of the 1970s and 80s.

And he later continues:

He trusts himself to deal with the short ball. Anything pitched up to him, he is ready to move and utilise his great power. But he doesn’t move too soon. He is rarely out of position with his front leg. Brian Close used to be totally committed to the front foot, but could give the impression of a great tree falling, or what might happen if the leaning tower of Pisa were to keep going in its predisposed direction. Pietersen is more in control.

So let’s hold off calling anyone a genius. It’s not fair on them, and it’s boring to read. If even Tony Blair’s political ability can be described in the same terms, it’s definately worth steering clear of. Pietersen is outstanding; isn’t that good enough?

Barmy Army Ashes

It’s been mere days since I last mentioned the A word, so it’s high time we mentioned it - and the Barmy Army.

From humble, albeit boistrous beginnings, England’s Barmy Army has morphed into a commercial venture offering serious fans the chance to tour with Brits (and others) following England. From what I can gather, they’re a great help and offer great support to the team; during England’s darker days in the mid-1990s, it always brought a smile to my face that hundreds of people could drunkedly chant “Barmy Army! Barmy Army!” in the face of 70 for 8 with Gus Fraser at the crease. Not Gus’ fault, of course - in fact, he’s an utter legend in Barmy parts and even not-so-barmy parts.

With the own-goal netted by Cricket Australia this week, it looks like the Barmy Army (who according to an insider have deals and connections in the cricket-ticket-world - the illuminati, if you will; ticketing masons, even) have a feast of tickets to go along with their other tour offerings. See here for details.

3rd Test preview, Trent Bridge

The third and final Test between England and Sri Lanka gets underway at Trent Bridge tomorrow, and Sanath Jayasuriya has been included in a 12-man squad for Sri Lanka. For the visitors, who must be delighted at the forecasters’ prediction of hot weather over the next week, all hope once again rests on the shoulders of their white-eyed maestro Muttiah Muralitharan. Only he stands in the way of a series victory for England.

Meanwhile England will continue to experiment with their young players, and I’m particularly keen on keeping a close eye on Sajid Mahmood. Our colleage at Cricinfo, the venerable Gnasher, is a proud Lancastrian which brings with it inevitable calls of “Coom on Sajy!” every time Mahmood warms up. And though he showed promise at Lord’s, he was convincingly outbowled by Liam Plunkett at Edgbaston who has had the better series of the two. His often-discussed lower-order batting potential has get to flourish - well, he’s not had much of a chance - but only a really poor performance at Nottingham will mark an otherwise blemish-free card. He looks a fine prospect.

Fuck all, says Athers

Accepting an award on behalf of Channel 4’s coverage of the Ashes last year, Michael Atherton yesterday announced:

Before I joined Channel 4 I played for a team that won f*** all for 15 years

[via Patrick]

On ya, Mike.