England have a difficult build-up the one-day series against India, with the tough week on Antigua and a shocking warm-up defeat against Mumbai
Andrew Miller12-Nov-2008
Kevin Pietersen has had plenty to deal with in recent weeks, but on Friday it’s back to serious cricket © AFP
Kevin Pietersen has spent much of this past fortnight saying “there, there, doesn’t matter” to anyone within earshot. First, his soothing tones were directed towards his team-mates in Antigua. They may have been crestfallen after letting the prospect of a million dollars a man slip through their grasp against the Stanford Superstars, but they were placated (apparently) by KP’s insistence that England cricketers didn’t need such riches anyway.One quick hop to the other side of the world, and on Tuesday in Mumbai, it was the press who were given their own rendition of Que sera sera: “I don’t see this is a bad thing at all,” Pietersen declared, after his team had gone one run worse than their Antigua showing by being rolled over for 98 in 25 overs. “At the end of the tour no-one really remembers what happened today … what counts is what happens on Friday.”Ah yes, Friday. For, after a fortnight of cricket that has redefined the concept of “meaningless”, England get back to business in Rajkot, with the first of seven ODIs against an Indian outfit that has suddenly announced itself as the pacesetters in world cricket, after disposing of Ricky Ponting’s Australia in last week’s Test series. After a muddled, multi-faceted pre-amble, the mitigating circumstances are about to leave by the side-exit.And yet, who’d have imagined that the disciplines of a one-day tour of India would be regarded as the catalyst for an England revival? Three years ago, the scenario couldn’t have been more different. Under the leadership of Andrew Flintoff, and with a memorable Test win at the Wankhede under their belts, England staggered around the subcontinent as if still drunk from their post-match piss-up in Mumbai harbour. They lost 5-1 – a margin that flattered them – and flopped back into Heathrow in mid-April to the deafening sound of indifference.That was then, this is now. In the coming weeks, the veterans of that ill-starred campaign will recognise many of the stadia and airport departure lounges – from the social hub of Delhi to the far-eastern outpost of Guwahati, where a washout on England’s last tour led to full-scale rioting in the stands. But on this occasion, the context is subtly different.Notwithstanding the woes that Pietersen’s men have experienced in the past month, they are a squad who imagine themselves to be upwardly mobile. They are ranked, incredibly, No. 3 in the one-day world after demolishing South Africa 4-0 at the tail-end of last summer, and – with their captain showing the way – they are savvy enough to realise that, in this IPL-fuelled day and age, India is not the arena in which to coast through the motions. A match-seizing performance in the game’s biggest marketplace could prove a far more reliable route to fame and fortune that Allen Stanford’s high-stakes pitch-and-toss.It may well have been a relief to get that confusing week over and done with, but England’s cricketers would not be human if they didn’t feel a touch deflated by the paucity of their efforts on that big occasionAll of which makes the events of the opening week a little bit tricky to quantify. Pietersen has a point when he says that the warm-ups don’t matter. Even when they were in their pre-2005 pomp, England were habitually awful in the build-up to Test series – Michael Vaughan tended to describe their regular set-backs, such as their crushing defeat against South Africa A in 2004-05, as “kicks up the arse”. But to roll over for less than 100 in consecutive weeks, and on separate continents, hints at a malaise that can’t be dismissed with the usual platitudes.How deeply scarred are the players after the chaos of the Stanford experience? “We are learning to make sure that we get ourselves right and take our lessons to get our heads back on and get them really, really tuned into what’s going to be a tough tour starting this evening,” said Pietersen, which was a long-winded way of saying that all has not been well in the camp since they departed for Antigua. It may well have been a relief to get that confusing week over and done with, but England’s cricketers would not be human if they didn’t feel a touch deflated by the paucity of their efforts on that big occasion.And so the business of revival gets underway. At least Flintoff has started his trip with intent, driving Mumbai’s spinners with confidence in the first warm-up to register his first century in England colours since the Trent Bridge Test of 2005. And James Anderson, piqued but still professional after being axed for the Stanford showdown, has realised the best way to respond to such a slight is through the weight of his performances. Three cheap wickets in the first game were backed up by face-saving runs in the second, and he is more than ready to resume his latter-day role as the leader of England’s attack.Even if he was bowling like a drain, however, England might have little choice but to call on Anderson’s services. Ryan Sidebottom is still receiving treatment on the Achilles injury that restricted his role in Antigua, while Stuart Broad is doubtful after sustaining a swollen knee while bowling four overs in Tuesday’s debacle. In fact, England’s injury issues extend even to the tour manager, Phil Neale, whose own knee problem has been deemed serious enough for him to fly home for surgery.The omens for England do not look good, especially given how buoyant India are bound to be after their recent run of success. Nevertheless, the optimism that infused the side when Pietersen took over as captain in August cannot have entirely evaporated. They might not have been able to play like a million dollars when that sum was up for grabs this month, but in the course of the next three weeks, England’s challenge will be to play with pride when pride is exactly what’s at stake. Mentally, it’s a prospect that probably sits much more easily with them.