KP and the Number One Spot

English cricket has been in the headlines this week for mainly the wrong reasons in that they have rightly lost the top spot in test cricket and the Kevin Pietersen affair, apparently undermining his team-mates and particularly his captain.

Firstly, England lost to the better side - South Africa are a terrific all-round side, reaping the rewards of sticking with players until they find their feet at the top level and bringing through talented young players when places appear. One has to remember that the South Africans has been blighted by injuries during this tour, losing their wicketkeeper and a top fast bowler to name a couple. They outplayed their hosts to win the series 2-0, although perhaps 1-0 would have been fairer to Andrew Strauss and his men. South Africa's batting is imperious and their bowling hostile and accurate, albeit with an unpredictable Morne Morkel and a frankly average spinner in Imran Tahir. They have seamers in the bank, but the only real chink in the armour could be in the spin department.

Saying that, they deserve their spot at the top of the tree. Their batting is very powerful indeed and rarely fails to hit 300+, meaning that they are not often going to be in a losing situation. Ok, so England fans will say that England put up a good fight, but having lost convincingly to Pakistan in the winter and now to South Africa at home, can anyone really claim that England are still number one?

If one was to pick a team from England's and South Africa's teams, he majority would be tourists - this is mine:

Alviro Peterson
Graeme Smith
Hashim Amla
Jacques Kallis
AB De Villiers
Ian Bell
Matt Prior
Dale Steyn
Graeme Swann
Vernon Philander
Steven Finn

One noticeable absence, who could have play for either side is Kevin Pietersen. The "England" batsman was dropped for the final test as it was revealed that he sent "derogatory" texts about his England colleagues, particularly Strauss, even apparently suggesting ways of getting him out. Commentators and pundits keep saying that this needs sorting out as soon as possible, but in my view Pietersen should never play for England again. He has tried to manipulate a situation to allow him maximum exposure in the IPL, but then realised that he needs his international career to command his wages in such domestic competitions.

In my view Pietersen should just become a freelance cricketer, playing in the various big money T20 competitions around the world. He is an very good player when his mind is in the right place, albeit a potential changing room splitter having found it difficult to exist in various changing rooms around English cricket.

England would be better to focus their energies on the likes of James Taylor and Johnny Bairstow who both look to be made of the right stuff after a slightly shaky start for the latter against the West Indies.