Pietersen vs Cook and the culture war dividing English cricket

Kevin Pietersen was a batter who didn’t need to hone his game in first-class cricket to prepare for the white heat of a Test match.

He was almost the invisible man at Hampshire, where he nominally spent six seasons as a player between 2005 and 2010 but made just seven County Championship appearances.

Sir Alastair Cook, meanwhile, was an opener who needed time at the crease to be able to go out and do what he did so successfully throughout his career, namely churn out runs by the thousands.

If Pietersen was a firework, Cook was the fire extinguisher on Guy Fawkes night – a man on hand to ensure things didn’t get out of hand if people started having too much fun.

Why Pietersen and Cook don’t see eye-to-eye

This week, one of English cricket’s most notorious irresistible forces once again came up against one its most treasured immovable objects.

Their argument – the kind Pietersen periodically revels in – was over whether Jacob Bethall, last seen on the bench for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League (IPL), should cut his losses and actually, you know, play a game of cricket in a format he is going to be playing all summer.

It’s already clear that Bethell is no ordinary cricketer and possesses a talent and character more Pietersen than Cook.

Aside from the legal and future ramifications of breaking a hugely lucrative IPL contract, both men have a valid point.

Pietersen argues that just training and being in the IPL environment teaches you things that turning out at a windswept Edgbaston never could.

Cook is in the opposite camp, reasoning that the best way for Bethell to become consistent in Test cricket is to get games and time under his belt in Division One of the County Championship.

So what does Bethell’s former county coach at Warwickshire, Mark Robinson, believe is best for the 22 year old? 

“It’s all contextual,” he says. “I’ve had players who I felt have had their growth stunted by the amount of time they spent on the bench in the winter, as opposed to maybe playing Grade Cricket in Australia, or working on the game back with us, instead of being stuck on a bench in franchise cricket. 

“But then you’ve got some players who have really prospered by the fact that they’ve been around a world class environment, with some of the best players in the world.

“So I think if it’s contextual, it’s where you are in your career and what you need?”

‘Pietersen saw county cricket as a pain in the arse’

Talking of context, Chris Tremlett – an Ashes winner alongside England in 2010-11 and a man who was at Hampshire when Pietersen arrived from Nottinghamshire in 2005 – believes that the South African-born player’s view will always be shaped by his own experiences of domestic cricket.

“The counties would want him to play because it was good exposure for them, but by the time Kevin Pietersen was more experienced and had played 50 plus Tests he didn’t want to play too much county cricket,” he says.

“I think county cricket was a bit of pain in the arse for him really, but he was confident enough to come from the IPL and go straight into a Test match. That’s why I guess he has these opinions now because he was good enough to do that. Other players need to prepare differently.”

There’s certainly a precedent when it comes to Bethell.

He was a part-time batter and full-time barman for England last summer and, when called on against India, looked far more comfortable holding the drinks than he did facing India’s attack.

“Beth will be a different person and a different player, to what he was a year ago, when you’d have to say how he was handled was detrimental to his development,” Robinson says. 

“He played so few games, he spent his summer carrying drinks for England, and barely played for Warwickshire – and then basically had a poor summer.

“Beth is an outstanding person, a brilliant professional, but you’ve got to know your own game. I don’t know how many 21- or 22-year-olds who really know their own game properly.” 

‘You’re only one IPL innings from away from your life changing’

Cricket can change quickly, though. Bethell may have spent the IPL watching on from the sidelines but injuries or loss of form can always hand players opportunities, as the Warwickshire man knows all too well from his time with England in Australia this winter.

“You’re only ever one IPL innings away from your life changing,” Robinson says. “You go in, smash a hundred and all of a sudden you’re in a different stratosphere, both in a cricket sense and financially too.” 

Alternatively, who knows, after a busy winter, a period of relative inactivity might do the left-hander the world of good.

“There’s one thing that people don’t like to talk about, but to state the obvious, these guys play so much cricket that there might be part of Bethell that is quietly enjoying having a little bit of a break,” Tremlett says.

“This is aa guy who has had a very busy winter and has years and years of cricket ahead of him.”

So there we go. Debate unsettled. Back to you Sir Alastair and KP.