Pietersen's Resignation A Blessing In Disguise

Nice to see England doing their utmost to throw away the Ashes some six months before it begins. It’s been a headline-writers dream, with the tabloids tripping over themselves at his priceless opportunity to trot out cricketing puns of every kind. England are stumped! KP has been caught out! The coach has been yorked! And so on, ad infinitum.Meanwhile, tea-sipping gentlefolk of the ilk of Jonathan Agnew have been positively tutting with incandescence at the manner in which the whole affair has been conducted. Some of the MCC members are even planning to vent their fury with letters to The Times, before settling back down for forty winks in the afternoon.

To be honest, I think this whole shambles may be a blessing in disguise. Pietersen’s talent is beyond doubt, and quite extraordinary, but cannot be separated from his ego and frankly annoying personality. The man’s craving for the limelight, frequent displays of petulance and mind-numbing, cliché-riddled interviews and press conferences suggest that he might not necessarily have the maturity to lead the team. In cricket particularly, the ability to keep your head while all about you are losing theirs is priceless. The sight of Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting losing his rag after being run out back in 2005 was most gratifying, but would also made it clear that the team was showing some signs of vulnerability. KP seems the sort to lose the plot in similar fashion when rattled - or indeed the sort to chase personal glory rather than the good of the team.

Within six months of Pitersen taking over it has emerged that there is a personality clash with the coach so large as to be insurmountable. I suspect that not all the players were necessarily enamoured of him either.

By contrast, his replacement Andrew Strauss comes across as a more intelligent, thoughtful and likeable chap, blessed with the capacity to think before speaking and acting. He seems less likely to rub team-mates the wrong way, and has captaincy experience at county and international level.

Another happy side-effect is that KP’s fit of pique has not extended to him picking up his ball and going home. No self-enforced sabbatical here, KP is keen to continue playing, and this will give England a chance to settle upon a batting order in the West Indies, before the serious stuff begins against the Aussies in the summer. All we need now is for Ian Bell to retire from Test cricket in an act of support/protest, and we’ll be ready to reclaim the Ashes.