Kevin Pietersen in Charge Spells New Era For England Cricket

What do you make of the decision to put Kevin Pieterson in charge of the England test and ODI team?

We always criticize the England cricket board for not making brave decisions and now that they have made one by choosing KP as the new captain, we just go and criticize them even more.

I think that this was a good decision. As we all know, Kevin Pieterson is a great player with tons of potential. The last England captains have always been under pressure for their place in the team, but I don't see this as a problem with Pieterson. I believe that he will always warrant his place on the team.

The other candidates where Andrew Strauss, Adrew Flintoff, and Robert Key.

Strauss' place on the team as opening batsman is not safe because he is again failing to score big runs in the latest test series against South Africa. It was a good idea to not choose him as he is under enough pressure already to score runs.

Looking at Flintoff, he is of course worthy of his place on the team, but when he was captain before, he blew himself too much and this caused injuries that kept him out for a few years. I agree with the decision to not put him as captain.

Robert Key was a contender thanks to the way he has been playing for Kent the last couple of years. He is a good batsman and captain, but he hasn't been on the England team for a couple of years.

If he was chosen, I think it could have ruined the spirit within the team for the likes of Cook, Strauss, Flintoff, and KP, as they all believed they could be captain. Also, if Key was chosen, it wouldn't be sending a good message out to all young batsmen looking to get on the team.

So Pieterson was chosen. Critics say that the pressure from captaining will ruin his style of batting, but I don't believe this. I think he will carry on batting the way he is, whether or not he is in charge. I hope that KP captains the way he bats—with flair, aggression, and inventiveness, which is what Vaughan was good at.