For most of the time since his retirement as a player Kevin Pietersen has worked as a pundit and commentator, encouraged to be outspoken, hold strong opinions and state them powerfully. After his surprise appointment as a specialist mentor to the England men’s white-ball teams he will have to tread a bit more carefully. He will bring positivity, as all great players initially do because of their stature within the game, but the fact that he was a great player lasts only so long, and then it’s about the words he uses and his ability to tailor his messaging.
He has not done a lot of coaching, but I have seen masterclasses on Sky that demonstrate how much hard work he put in across his career to reach the heights he did, showing strong technical understanding, and excellent communication. His credentials speak for themselves, as a world-class player with huge reserves of experience to draw on, and someone who has stayed in touch with the game. He’s got this chance on merit.
But as a personality he can divide opinion: some have always sung his praises, while others might not enjoy his company so much. Normally when a consultant is brought in it’s for one tour, to see how things go. Pietersen is due to be involved with England until the end of next year.
It is a big commitment, both from the England and Wales Cricket Board and from Pietersen, and also a bit of a risk. He has been quite outspoken in his criticism of Brendon McCullum’s approach to Test cricket in particular, and it might be a clever move to take a critic out of the commentary box and turn him into an ally, but I’m sure his message as a dominant player will be to encourage the batters to take a similar approach, which would probably echo McCullum’s advice. The challenge of coaching as a former player is to adapt your message to each individual.
You’ve had your career, now your job is to help people to make the most of theirs, not to tell them what you would have done. Language is so powerful to players, and Pietersen will need to show a mastery of nuance that he might be unused to. Pakistan’s latest coaching appointments are, I think it’s fair to say, less encouraging.
In fact if you want a demonstration of how not to manage an international cricket team, or for that matter any sports team, just take a look at this Pakistan set-up. In their latest brainwave they sacked their head coach and sent seven players home while calling up largely inexperienced replacements before the final Test this week. To me it smacks of administrators wanting to be seen to be proactive.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
