Pietersen's new era

IN an astonishing turn of events it appears at first glance that England actually have a 'one-day' side that threatens to be reasonably good.

Leading the series 3-0 going into Sunday's game at Lords, England had won the five-match series already but were keen to complete a white-wash, a statistic that would unbelievably take them to second spot in the world rankings.

Whether they would actually be the second best team is another matter given their performances over the past 10 years but the rankings are a law unto themselves and the only thing they consistently get right is that Australia are the best team in the world. I am not sure though any of us need some complicated scoring system to tell us that.

However, it is absolutely clear that England look a better balanced team in this series and as with any sport, momentum and a winning mentality go a long way to sustained success.

Some may argue that England captain Kevin Pietersen is lucky in that Collingwood did not have Flintoff in his side and Harminson has now agreed to play again. This has meant with Broad and Anderson opening the bowling England are able to take wickets throughout the 50-overs and not just when the ball is new.

Harminson's turnaround is more interesting than Flintoff's and whilst he has been suggesting that he is more settled and relaxed about international cricket it is difficult not to have the suspicion that the IPL and Stamford's millions have influenced his decision and to be honest who would blame him?

With Vaughn's loss of personal form, and his team losing, his tearful farewell was always on the cards whilst Collingwood looked like he was struggling from the beginning and his form suffered accordingly. Looking around, the ECB must have considered many to replace them but only one was inevitable, not least because he is the only player actually guaranteed his place. That man, of course, is Pietersen, a brash South African adopted by England and now the mainstay of both forms of cricket in this country.

If he has been lucky with his fast bowlers' return there is no question he has had a significant impact on the structure of the team.

Bell and Prior have been given their heads opening the batting, Shah has been told to make the crucial number three his spot, Flintoff upped in the order to five and Broad has been given the new ball and told to get on with it.

There are now no places to hide, either they perform or their spots will be in jeopardy which is a welcome change to the comfortable nature of the Hussain, Vaughn and Fletcher regimes where performances did not always determine places.

All these players have responded accordingly which is a testament to Pietersen's personality and standing in the team and bodes very well for the future. Whether he has the skill and mind of other successful skippers, only time will tell, but with tours of India and the Ashes next summer we will not have to wait long to find out. The seven one day outings in India will also test Harminson's decision to return as the pitches and conditions will not be to his liking as they are in a dreary English August.

Meanwhile, Sunday's game, which was rain affected, resulted in another sound beating for a tired South African team. With the Test Series won - the main objective of their tour - and a strange 10-day delay before the one day games began (not to mention Smith's injury) they are a team waiting to go home.

Some of the players have even mentioned they should have gone back after the Test series for a break before the series began and that is something the South African administrators should be ashamed of to let happen in the first place.

The Indian tour apart, it would have been interesting to see how the England team would have got on the ICC Champions Trophy but after Smith first announced the South Africans would not be going to Pakistan it was never going to be long before it was cancelled.

The irony for Pietersen, of course, is that he was one of the most vocal about not going due to security risks but given his team's form he may well be regretting the chance to take on the Aussies as they may well have had the best chance, not just for any England side, but any team in the world, to remove the long held crown.

I doubt he would ever admit to such a thing given his nature, but it must surely be a nagging issue at the back of his mind.