KEVIN PIETERSEN has let down his adopted country. Given the honour of captaining the England cricket team, he failed to act responsibly. Instead, he tried to impose himself, using his power as a match-winning batsman and appointed leader to remove a lacklustre coach and install his own staff.
Apparently, he wanted to appoint Shane Warne, a friend and colleague at Hampshire and a man blessed with the golden touch he seeks. Warne spent the last day of the SCG Test deep in discreet conversation with respected advisers. Of course, the Victorian can pack more dramas into a single day than a soap opera can in a month but observers thought it unlikely that cheese sandwiches or crisps dipped into tomato sauce remained at the forefront of his thinking.
Besides, Pietersen advocated signing Darren Berry and Jeremy Snape, the assistants Warne had taken with him to the Rajasthan Royals as part of the package. Doubtless, Pietersen was impressed by the leg spinner's bold and popular captaincy and by Rajasthan's audacious and merry victory in the first IPL season.
Rajasthan were the most insouciant of the IPL sides. Disdaining practice for its own sake, not bothering much about plans or tactics, encouraging risk taking, conveying confidence, enjoying themselves without spending their entire time cavorting, Rajasthan lived on their wits. In short, the captain set the tone.
Pietersen yearned to instil the same freewheeling yet competitive outlook in his players and knew his sincere but unimaginative coach blocked his path.
None of these ideas was bad. Pietersen has always sought to surround himself with success. After all, he went to England and moved to Hampshire for that reason, and chose Clive Rice, Warne and Ian Botham as his mentors. His ruthlessness sat beside the sense of destiny and insecurity often detected in these superficially daredevil types.
To him, success is a state of mind. His own career tells the tale. He had driven himself from mundanity to excellence. It's easily forgotten that he did not get into his school team until his final term. He achieved greatness, was not born with it, and it sets him apart. Always he has played a high stakes game and, until now, it has worked. Most of us settle for something safer.
Doubtless, he felt England were doomed to a long spell of mediocrity unless attitudes changed off the field. He might be right about that. Peter Moores was a hard-working fellow but lacked the spark needed to excel.
Players have been coasting along, and the results had been predictably poor. England won the Ashes in 2005 partly because the team had been taken over by two Africans, Duncan Fletcher and Pietersen, both raised in a confronting culture. Accordingly, England played an uncompromising game. Players reached deeper into themselves, and even Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff roared like lions.
Of course, the Australian bowling coach helped, and the team was also astutely led. But Pietersen produced the decisive innings at The Oval. Now everybody is talking about Ashley Giles.
Accordingly, the changes demanded by Pietersen had merit. But his approach was arrogant and tactless. He seemed to think he could hold English cricket to ransom. It was never going to work. It is not possible to achieve anything significant from a game park in Africa. If he cared that much about his team and his tenure then he should have been putting his case back in London. To that end, he should have formed cogent arguments and presented facts and figures, not a fait accompli. After all, the team was about to fly to the West Indies. Moreover, the next Ashes campaign is six months away. It was hardly a time for brinkmanship.
In any case, Pietersen was not arguing from a position of strength. Although his captaincy had begun well with straight talking and impressive victories over South Africa, it subsequently lost momentum. He had come to resemble Botham not Warne. Nothing was ever his fault.
After the Mumbai blasts, he took the team back to India but could not defend 387 on the final day in Chennai. Far from attacking, he spread his field and waited for mistakes. Afterwards he complained about a lack of tactical guidance. Captains are supposed to think for themselves. His inability to accept failure told of profound insecurity in office. No wonder he wanted to send for Warne.
Pietersen's resignation leaves English cricket in turmoil. He is an outstanding and self-made batsman but this setback will take a toll. Botham was rejuvenated after losing the captaincy but he had Mike Brearley to guide him. Besides, he had not craved the job and hated the isolation. Pietersen was more ambitious, and his fall is more painful
It also raises another issue. At present, a nation's cricketing strength depends on its ability to survive the disturbances created by the Indian cricket leagues.