Kevin Pietersen Goes Both Ways

Nothing about Kevin Pietersen is straightforward: of South African origin, he has become England’s best player (and, before Monty showed up, its much better off-spinner). When he first arrived on the scene, he oozed attack and aggression, which some commentators ascribed to a lack of “post-colonial guilt.” And even now, in his current mellowed, more “mature” phase, he still has the penchant to excite (Celeste or otherwise).

Take the rule-bending, switch-hitting reverse sweep (see below). The shot raised some hackles, even after declared legal. As Michael Holding pointed out, if that was legal, surely bowlers should be allowed to come around or over the wicket as they please, without prior announcement. (Holding, of course, doesn’t understand that cricket is a batsman’s game, after all.)

It turns out, however, that Pietersen has long been enamored of the extreme reverse-sweep (if not the switch-hit). Take a look at this shot off Murali:

And, of course, this one against, I think, the West Indies:

The inspiration apparently came from Paul Nixon, who perfected the shot during his brief career as wicketkeeper. Have a final look at the aged innovator:

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