Rob Key
10 August 2008 - 19:08
by Rob Key
What a month! It's all change in the England set up and I experienced the heartache of Twenty20 finals day disappointment, but I will come on to that later. First things first, lets discuss the Three Lions.
Good appointment
I think it makes sense to have one captain for all forms of the game and one coach. And I think Kevin Pietersen (KP) is the only man for the job. To captain across all forms of the game you need to have the respect of the dressing room as a player. Because when you need to run the riot act on a few players they can't and won't come back at you. And I think KP has certainly earned the players respect.
KP will score more runs
Obviously the press immediately worry and point the finger that KP's runs could dry up. But it will go one of two ways, you just have to hope that with KP taking on more responsibility it will spur him on to get even more runs. I personally think he relishes in responsibility like this and I am positive he will go from strength to strength. The Captaincy might turn a 150 into a double hundred. Let's hope so.
Harmison had to return
I think it was a great decision to bring back Steve Harmison, it was probably two Tests too late but a good positive decision from KP. I faced Steve a couple of weeks ago and he is bowling right arm fast! He is fit and hitting the deck with proper pace and at the moment he is beginning to look like the frightening figure he once was.
When you captain a side I think you should pick your bowlers by thinking who does this Batsman least want to face. I tell you, Steve Harmison is at the top of most South African Batsman's lists. He has Overs under his belt and is ready to go, the sooner he is back regularly playing for England the better in my book.
Be Positive. Freddy at 6
I am also backing KP's decision to bat Freddy at 6. This is positive and I think he realises that we need to take 20 wickets to win this Test match, so let's be positive and have Freddy as an extra pace bowler. This should frighten South Africa and it shows how confident this England side could become under a decisive captain like KP. Let's be positive!
Twenty 20 was fantastic
The Twenty 20 finals day was great fun and I thought the Kent side did so well. I thought we didn't have a chance of chasing down the Middlesex total, so to come so close was really gutting. I was inconsolable afterwards, but it all made for great drama and a fantastic day for cricket.
To be honest it was an amazing effort from the Kent lads to get to the final and they deserve a lot of credit. But cricket was the winner, especially the English Twenty 20 competition. If you forget all the other tournaments around the world, it was great that the English competition got so much exposure, showcased by an unbelievable day of cricket. And hopefully it brought in a few new people to cricket.
We were unlucky to finish second and I think this means we qualify for another tournament, but the format for the Twenty 20 competitions seems to be changing daily, so who knows which competition it is. I don't take any notice.
The English competition is one of the worst paid tournaments compared to the others but when you win on a finals day like that, in front of so many people after going through such a hard slog to get there, it is just an amazing feeling.
I have now felt the experience of winning and losing a high profile Twenty 20 final and my conclusion is that this competition is fantastic to compete in and you desperately want to win and impress on that stage because you know how high profile it is.
Twenty 20 is the nuts
I don't think there is better day in the cricket calendar and it is just a shame because losing that final felt like the end of the season, but we have important County Championship games coming up. So it will be important to keep morale high in the side. The good thing for us is, we haven't been playing very well over the first half of the season and we are just beginning to peak, so I am positive we can have a good run into the end of the season.
Denly is a great talent
People ask me who have been the stars of Twenty 20 this year? There have been some great performances but I think I would have to pick two with the bat. The first is obviously the big hitting Graham Napier who has been a sensation to watch and play against. He is a great character and boy, has he taken apart some bowling attacks this summer. I think the young player of the series for me was the wee Joe Denly down at Kent with me. He has come on leaps and bounds and is a definite star of the future, hopefully at International level.
I have to also give a big shout out to Shaggy Shaun Udal who has rolled back the clock and bowled magnificently throughout the tournament. I genuinely believe that without Shaggy Middlesex would not have won the tournament.
Until next time...