Kevin Pietersen Mocks Mitchell Johnson's All-rounder Tag
Kevin Pietersen confident England will make a mockery of Mitchell Johnson's all-rounder tag
Kevin Pietersen has become the first England player to break ranks and offer Australia a few pithy words, announcing there is a "bound to be an altercation" during the Ashes and questioning whether Mitchell Johnson is mentally tough enough to handle his billing as the tourists' spearhead bowler and star all-rounder.
"I played against him in India, I've played against him in South Africa and in Melbourne and he's improved a lot. Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher [of South Africa] say he's a very much improved cricketer, but bowling on wickets in Australia and South Africa is a totally different story to bowling on wickets here in England," Pietersen said.
"There's a few bowlers out there that know the faster you bowl in England the further you can go. So it's going to be difficult for him, because he's got all the pressure now being Australia's best player, Australia's big all-rounder [Johnson's Test batting average is 34.70 and he has taken 94 wickets in 21 Tests at 28.01 apiece]. So we'll see how that tag goes down with him."
Earlier this week Johnson taunted Pietersen by saying: "Is he vulnerable? I think there's definitely going to be a lot of pressure on him, so we're looking to get him as cheaply as we can," before talking up how he had twice broken the hand of the South Africa captain, Graeme Smith, and would be aiming for the "ribs, above the badge" of England's batsmen.
Informed of this Pietersen shrugged and invited Johnson to do his worst. "Left-armers talking about bowling into your ribs is actually quite nice. I mean you can work them through mid-wicket, you can hit them through square-leg, hit them through fine leg. On English wickets you can stand back and hook and pull from there," he said, before offering another dig at Johnson by wondering if a player who was unsure of himself during debut against Bangladesh in November 2007 actually possesses genuine hostility.
"So when bowlers start talking about that and the aggression side of things – which I don't believe are strictly true – it's probably the Aussie way of talking. It's when they're talking about swinging balls and seaming the ball and going for your stumps, that becomes a bit of a problem."
Asked if Pietersen was expecting some personally tailored verbals out in the middle, he was again unperturbed. "Playing Australia is always tough and they're always going to give you some. At some stage there's going to be an altercation on the field and stuff. But the war of words is not important to me at all. Sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes I give it back, sometimes I have a lot of fun with it, sometimes I've had real big ding-dongs with the Australians which I thoroughly enjoyed.
"I'm challenged a lot by bowlers and opposition. Most teams pretty much target me now – and it makes me simplify things and make sure I'm going through my little routines."
Pietersen's comments were timely as Cricket Australia denied there was a ban on the tourists from sledging. A spokesman explained that correspondence with players on the issue is of good sportsmanship and beyond that is not so prescriptive. Australia, meanwhile, will be returning to England since the England and Wales Cricket Board has agreed to stage their two Tests and two Twenty20 against Pakistan in July 2010.
"I played against him in India, I've played against him in South Africa and in Melbourne and he's improved a lot. Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher [of South Africa] say he's a very much improved cricketer, but bowling on wickets in Australia and South Africa is a totally different story to bowling on wickets here in England," Pietersen said.
"There's a few bowlers out there that know the faster you bowl in England the further you can go. So it's going to be difficult for him, because he's got all the pressure now being Australia's best player, Australia's big all-rounder [Johnson's Test batting average is 34.70 and he has taken 94 wickets in 21 Tests at 28.01 apiece]. So we'll see how that tag goes down with him."
Earlier this week Johnson taunted Pietersen by saying: "Is he vulnerable? I think there's definitely going to be a lot of pressure on him, so we're looking to get him as cheaply as we can," before talking up how he had twice broken the hand of the South Africa captain, Graeme Smith, and would be aiming for the "ribs, above the badge" of England's batsmen.
Informed of this Pietersen shrugged and invited Johnson to do his worst. "Left-armers talking about bowling into your ribs is actually quite nice. I mean you can work them through mid-wicket, you can hit them through square-leg, hit them through fine leg. On English wickets you can stand back and hook and pull from there," he said, before offering another dig at Johnson by wondering if a player who was unsure of himself during debut against Bangladesh in November 2007 actually possesses genuine hostility.
"So when bowlers start talking about that and the aggression side of things – which I don't believe are strictly true – it's probably the Aussie way of talking. It's when they're talking about swinging balls and seaming the ball and going for your stumps, that becomes a bit of a problem."
Asked if Pietersen was expecting some personally tailored verbals out in the middle, he was again unperturbed. "Playing Australia is always tough and they're always going to give you some. At some stage there's going to be an altercation on the field and stuff. But the war of words is not important to me at all. Sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes I give it back, sometimes I have a lot of fun with it, sometimes I've had real big ding-dongs with the Australians which I thoroughly enjoyed.
"I'm challenged a lot by bowlers and opposition. Most teams pretty much target me now – and it makes me simplify things and make sure I'm going through my little routines."
Pietersen's comments were timely as Cricket Australia denied there was a ban on the tourists from sledging. A spokesman explained that correspondence with players on the issue is of good sportsmanship and beyond that is not so prescriptive. Australia, meanwhile, will be returning to England since the England and Wales Cricket Board has agreed to stage their two Tests and two Twenty20 against Pakistan in July 2010.
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