Top-gear Pietersen learns to shift down to end lean run

ADELAIDE, (Reuters) – England’s Kevin Pietersen is a   past master at batting in top gear but it was learning to   shift down that helped him end a long lean spell with a double   century in the second Ashes test yesterday.

The 30-year-old, one of the most talented batsmen in the   game, had gone nearly 20 months without a test century when he   walked out on Sunday morning at the Adelaide Oval with 85 runs   on the board.

When rain stopped play for the good during the tea break,   Pietersen was unbeaten on 213 having not only secured his   first century since March 2009 and a second career double   century but also played a big part in putting England in   control.
“It has been quite tough over the last 18 months,” he   said. “But over my career I’ve had a lot of good stuff and a   little bit of bad. It’s gone now, so look forward.

The former England captain’s lean run of form was so   marked that he was dropped by the national side for some   limited overs games earlier this year. He used the time to   return to his birthplace and work with one of his old coaches,   Graham Ford.
“Fordy’s a legend, the work I did with him in South Africa   was amazing,” he said. “He’s known me since I was six or seven   years old and two or three little things we worked on has got   me back to the way I used to play.”

“The key to what I’ve done is trying to go through the   gears to fifth and then being able to go back down to third   and then, if needs be, drop back down to first, and then go   back up,” he explained.

“I’ve been working really, really hard on it over the last   few months. It’s what the team needs, we’re not looking two or   three sessions ahead, we’re looking at 10 minutes, 10-run   partnerships… keeping things simple.”

England’s top order have batted so well since the second   innings of the Gabba test that Pietersen has had to bide his   time to get a chance to bat at all.

He was desperate to bat at Adelaide having missed out   altogether in the second innings at the Gabba and being padded   up for hour upon hour as Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott put   the Australian bowlers to the sword in the second test.
“You can probably see by how I started, I was trying to   get to 50 in five balls,” he joked.

“It was a long time to wait, I’ve not done that in my   career before. It was incredible, and long may it continue…   (but) it’s more tiring waiting to bat than actually batting.”

Pietersen said he had not been surprised at how well   England had batted in making 517-1 declared in the drawn first   test and 551-4 so far in Adelaide.

“We were quietly confident we could do better than we did   last time,” he said, recalling the 5-0 whitewash in 2006-07.
“As an England cricketer, that gets your juices flowing. I   remember leaving Heathrow airport thinking ‘this is going to   amazing’.”

Despite the wet weather, Pietersen was confident England   could win the test — with spinner Graeme Swann perhaps   playing a leading role.

“Rain, no rain, there’s a good chance we can win this test   match,” he said. “Marcus North spun the ball out of the rough   today and we’ve got the best spinner in the world in our team.”