Possible KP Absence blows Ashes Series Wide Open

Posted: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 by Anonymous in Labels: , , , , , , , ,
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England’s hopes of winning another Ashes series on home soil are under threat after batsman, Kevin Pietersen, was ruled out of the spring competition with a right knee injury.

Pietersen, England’s talismanic number four, suffered the hurt during preparations for his side’s third and final Test with New Zealand, which begins on Thursday.

The 32-year-old is expected to be out for six to eight weeks, miss the Indian Premier League, and the start of the country cricket championship – an absence that could have a detrimental effect on his game heading into the international summer.

With England set to play a home series against the Kiwis before facing Australia, Pietersen will target that 16 May deadline as the date for his recovery.

However, there is still concern from cricket betting news outlets that he won’t be fit to face Australia later in the summer: a predicament that could leave England short in the batting order.

For Pietersen is the only real batsman England can rely upon to claw back a match-saving haul other than captain, Alastair Cook. Granted, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, and potentially Joe Root are solid at the crease but they lack that flair and persistence that make great batsmen stand out in Ashes series.

Cook proved it last time out against Australia with three centuries, while Pietersen managed a 227 haul in Adelaide the same series.

If England are to scalp an average yet improving Australian bowling attack they need Pietersen in their order. Root is a good number six but neither he nor Jonny Bairstow are strong and experienced enough to take up a more important role up the order.

Hopefully, KP will quickly recover from this injury and be back in the England set-up without a problem, but there will remain a lingering doubt in the minds of fans claiming their in-play bet offer regarding his fitness heading into a major summer of Test cricket. Many such offers can be found at sites featuring betting apps although England fans should be wary of being overly confident against any Australia team intent on reclaiming the old urn.

Kevin Pietersen: The hero?

Posted: Monday, March 18, 2013 by jimmymycrushie in Labels: , , ,
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Kevin Pietersen may be a brat, but he has transformed cricket. For good. There are many a cricket fans whose life was never the same following Ashes 2005. Here is the story of one such person.

As a young child, my main sporting passion was football. I was obsessed with that small team
from the north called Manchester United. But come the summer of 2005, it all changed. Some
of my family already loved cricket and so got me watching that series. What a series it was, I was
encapsulated by the magic of the Ashes. The talent of players like Andrew Flintoff, Michael Vaughan,
Shane Warne and Glen McGrath impressed me beyond belief. However, no one caught my attention
more than the tall, young and flamboyant Kevin Pietersen. His presence at the crease and his
attacking shot play ensured I was glued to the TV screens and radios.

His last innings at the Oval in the last test where he scored 158 was simply outstanding. His shot
selection was out of this world and I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t really watched cricket before this
point. I don’t know what it was about him - maybe it was his entertaining and perhaps show pony
style that enabled my small interest in cricket to expand and really become what it is today.

England went on to win the Ashes and I was able to celebrate as an excited little ten year old. It was
my first cricket series and I think I picked the right one! Since then I have been to many different
cricket grounds and experienced many incredible innings but nothing stands out as much as Kevin
Pietersens innings at Hove. Since the Ashes of 2005, Kevin Pietersen has remained my favourite
player and I have followed him closely since. It hasn’t all been sweet glory- the captain antics with
Peter Moore were quite upsetting and his dips in form and twitter outbursts have been hard to take
and accept. But in the summer of 2010, I was able to watch him bat at Hove.

Kevin was playing for Surrey against Sussex and he produced a stunning century. It included
beautiful fours and splendid sixes. He even hit a six to get up to 50 and then again to get 100.

Because of the Ashes and Kevin Pietersen, I became a major cricket fanatic and therefore I must
thank them. I am now writing about cricket for a couple of websites and on my own blog
The Witty Cricketer, in the hope to become a sports journalist in the future. So thank you Kevin!

David Pope, 17, is a huge Sussex supporter who enjoys being a member at the Hove county ground every summer. David has been playing cricket for a few different teams over the last few years and thoroughly enjoys playing! He considers himself to be a medium-paced bowler with the best figures being 4-38 and he prefers not to talk about his batting.

If you would like to compare betting sites to place bets in the on-going England tour of New Zealand, visit mybettingsites.co.uk.