For Kevin Pietersen, Durban had a warm welcome. For everyone else it was rain, and the roadworks and renovations that foretell the football World Cup, and a greyness which blended the sky and sea seamlessly.
Impatient: Kevin Pietersen's lengthy lay-off means he is taking his time getting back in the runs, according to England coach Andy Flower Photo: Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty
Pietersen had his pregnant wife Jessica waiting for his arrival. England's one-day series abroad now have a pattern of playing on Friday and Sunday, then travel and weight-training on Monday, a day off on Tuesday, middle practice on Wednesday, and light training on Thursday.
Pietersen at least will not be wondering what to do with his free time on Tuesday. Or, being the driven sportsman he is, Pietersen might prefer heavy netting. He has yet to score a fifty on this trip – in other words since his Achilles operation in July. And he has only the Friday day/nighter here, and a couple of innings in East London, before the four-Test series.
England coach Andy Flower offered a more persuasive rationale for thinking Pietersen will come good than the South African think tank when they publicly support their players.
"Four months is a long time off when you are used to playing cricket all the time," Flower admitted. "It will take him some time to get back into it. He's impatient because he is a high achiever. I'm sure he is frustrated because he chases success, and quite rightly. I'm sure he will score heavy runs at some stage of this tour. I don't think he'll be fretting – he is very confident."
Flower did not think Pietersen was being upset by the booing of the South African crowds, which has been restrained by comparison with his first England tour here.
"I think he's used to that sort of reaction. I really don't think it affects him. I didn't like hearing boos when [Ricky] Ponting walked out to bat, and it's really disappointing to hear them booing a great cricketer walking out to compete for his country."
Considering that Pietersen was England's only match-winning one-day batsman from the time Marcus Trescothick retired until this tour, it is all the more creditable that other players have improved substantially and carried him through this series. According to Flower, the Wednesday middle practices have helped the players become used to pressure as Ottis Gibson and Richard Halsall, the bowling and fielding coaches, devise scenarios simulating match conditions.
As an example, England have usually scored enough runs in the first 15 overs but lost too many wickets in the process: an average of exactly two in the year before this series. There was too much early desperation again in Cape Town when chasing 355, but when Jonathan Trott resumed his opening partnership with Andrew Strauss in Port Elizabeth, not a wicket was lost in the first 15 overs. Trott, in Flower's words, is "a consistent, solid man at one end".
Flower defended his choice of Graham Gooch as a batting coach who will work with England's players up to and including the first Test and "for chunks through the year". Flower said that Gooch did not want to help the players bat but to make runs – to put substance ahead of style.
As Flower no longer has time to do all the batting coaching, he is right to call in consultants, but maybe not Gooch alone. The Tasmanian Dene Hills is in charge of batting at Loughborough, although he has his hands full with the performance squad in Pretoria. Or there is Gooch's old opening partner Geoff Boycott, who could do a session – provided the BBC do not cover it live.
Source:telegraph.co.uk/
