|
Post by lewissaffin on Jul 14, 2012 9:56:47 GMT
As a Surrey Cricket Club member for the two previous seasons and a fan since way beyond that, when I think about cricket, I tend to have Surrey's best interests at heart. For this reason, I am really not sure how I feel about Kevin Pietersen's presence at the club.
Yesterday, in the first four-day game after the Twenty20 bonanza against Lancashire at the out-of-town ground (Guildford), he played one of the most astonishing knocks I have ever read about:
Kevin Pietersen........not out.........234 (190 balls, 30x4, 8x6)
This is just an example of his indescribable talent and his astonishing ability to have such an effect on a game (save for Zander de Bruyn, no other Surrey player has knocked more than 40 in the game). And yet this is one of only a handful of games that he will play for Surrey this season; all the while, he takes easily the largest pay-check of the season. Surrey posted the worst fiscal records of all counties in the country last year.
Is he a good influence or a bad one? The jury is still out for me.
|
|
|
Post by Mr. McMahon on Jul 15, 2012 14:28:09 GMT
Bad one. Kind of. From what little I know, anyway, but from an on-field perspective it's bound to be good I should imagine.
Having worked at Hampshire CCC for best part of three seasons, I met a fair few people at the club who obviously knew him. While most of them (the chairman for example) were too professional to say anything, or perhaps harbored no ill feelings at all, some did mention that they weren't keen on him at all because of the way he carried himself around the club for the (as you say) few games he was present at The Rose Bowl.
I never met him personally, and so can't really comment on the man on a personal level, though most if not all of the players and former players I knew (Dimi Mascherenas and Kevin Latouf for example) were lovely guys, really keen on doing their best for the club and mingling with the fans, and always happy to lend a helping hand to those of us on the media side of things.
As you also rightly said, KP's influence on the field is exceptional at times and I still remain sure that his commitment to cricket - whether he is playing for his first, second or even third choice team - is unquestionable, and as a result I reckon when he IS there, despite the way he apparently carries himself, I'm sure his influence on the field can only be good. If it leads to him carrying home a huge paycheck for a few days' work each season though, I'd suggest things may need looking at to be honest.
|
|
|
Post by Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Jul 15, 2012 19:40:04 GMT
Its completly up to enterpretation of his personality. Personally I think having someone like KP can progress Surrey positively, increase the fan base due to having one of the most high profile names in cricket on the team. Not to mention he was once captian of England, so his obvious leadership skills would be a bonus.
On the other hand he can be a bit of a big head, or so ive head, but i think there are way to many pros to outweigh the a few cons of having KP in a Surrey shirt.
|
|
|
Post by lewissaffin on Jul 16, 2012 18:03:26 GMT
Interesting responses. Having gone to the Pro40 game last Sunday at Guildford, I can confirm that he is an integral part of our batting line-up because by the fourth over of the game, we were 8-5 I think, because we have the funds for it, it is definitely worth having him as part of the team. He is easily my favourite batsman to watch personally, so I may well be slightly biased but he just plays like no one else I have ever seen.
|
|