English Batsmen must step up in Pietersen's absence

Even to a layman it must have been inevitable. His Achilles injury was hampering hi movement and preying on his mind. Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the third test at Edgbaston, and indeed, the rest of the 2009 Ashes series.

And so the harbingers of doom prepare to forecast batting collapses a la the dark days of the 1990’s, for the England’s batting unit comprises of only one player, not six or seven as some aficionados of the game would have you believe.

Or does it? And does the omission of one player indeed spell doom and destruction, or is it in fact a golden opportunity for other players to step up and show their true colours?

For too long England have relied on Kevin Pietersen to make a big score and win or save games. Yes, he is a fine player, a genius no doubt, but can he be continually relied on to produce a match-winning innings?

His first innings in the Cardiff test would seem to answer this perfectly. Having played so well, with care that was out of character, Pietersen looked well set to make a massive score. But what actually happened? He threw his wicket away playing a truly daft shot against a bowler probably not fit to bowl to him.

My point is this: Pietersen is without doubt the most gifted player in the England set up. But has everyone forgotten the old adage, genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration?

Whatever the team announced at Edgbaston, there are six or seven batsmen in the team (eight or nine if you include Broad and Anderson) and the non-attendance of a limping Pietersen should give ample opportunity for another player to stamp his authority against a badly misfiring Australian bowling attack.

This blog has no worries about the opening pair of Strauss and Cook. Indeed, Strauss’ majestic hundred at Lords’ should relax him for the rest of the summer and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he goes on to be England’s leading run scorer in the series.

Nor do I have any serious qualms about Ravi Bopara. You don’t score three successive hundreds in test matches unless you are a quality player, even if it is just against the West Indies. You just don’t. And in the World Twenty20 (easily the best one-day tournament I have witnessed) he truly looked like a man for all formats. England must stick with him.

Shane Warne can say what he likes about Paul Collingwood, but he must know as well as the rest of us that no one deserves to score a double hundred against Australia in Australia and still end up on the losing side, and his innings at Cardiff must have ended all doubts about his right to his place.

Matt Prior could go on to emulate his mentor, Alec Stewart, and bat anywhere in the order such is the quality of his hitting. And runs from Andrew Flintoff, in his swansong, will only be a bonus as it is indubitably his bowling that will win the Ashes for England this time round, and ensure that the series is remembered as ‘Freddie’s Ashes Part 2’ if he ankle and knee will hold up long enough.

But it is KP’s replacement, probably at no 4 (I’d like to see him bat at 5 or 6, but suspect the selectors will keep changes to a minimum) that intrigues the most.

When Bell first came on to the scene I immediately thought that he looked like Michael Atherton, but with shots. What I mean by this – and heaven forfend I should ever offend an outstanding batsman, captain, commentator and writer – was that Bell looked very similar, i.e. classy, compact, solid in his defence but unhindered by a chronic back complaint.

It all seemed rosy at first, until he was thrown in at the deep end in the Ashes series of 2005, where, apart from back-to-back fifties in the third test at Old Trafford Edbaston McGrath and Warne clearly had the wood on him and he ended the series bagging a pair at the Oval.

The return series of 2006-07 (I must be one of the few who remembers that series ever took place) was no picnic either and he was famously referred to by Shane Warne as ‘the Shermanator’ – an unkind reference to the red-haired geek in the American Pie franchise who found it necessary to lie about his sexual prowess.

His place was in doubt at the start of the 2008 season but an innings of 199 at Lords’ secured his place for a while. Not long enough though, and his abject dismissal in the first test against the West Indies in the winter series, which precipitated a shocking collapse to 51 all out, gave licence to the new captain and coach (sorry, team director) to make wholesale changes.

Owais Shah filled the berth for a while, but did little to suggest that, at 30, he has a long-term future with England. Ravi Bopara has done well, but the jury is out as to where in the order he should bat.

KP’s injury therefore gives Bell another chance. There is no doubt that the England management have talked to him at length about his commitment and desire to play for England, and the need for him to make the most of his unquestionable talent. It is a golden opportunity, and he knows it.

But can the Shermanator now become the Terminator?

One can’t but help thinking this might very well be Ian Bell’s time.

Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, July 2009