Imagining a perfect route back to the England side for Kevin Pietersen
Since Kevin Pietersen's bombastic book was released, numerous members of the cricketing fraternity, including Nasser Hussain and Jimmy Anderson, have said there is no way back for the enigmatic batsman in terms of playing for England again. But are they right?
Of course not.
Time and time again, media figures and experts are proved wrong as the unpredictable winds of professional sport decide to blow in another direction. And it really wouldn't take too much before KP was walking back out to bat with the Three Lions emblazoned across his chest.
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Let's imagine what would have to occur before this "impossibility" could become a reality.
On the pitch
Firstly and somewhat pessimistically, England would need to struggle in all forms of the game, which, given their forthcoming ODI-heavy fixture list, isn't a long shot by any means. Take a look at their schedule:
26 Nov. - 17 Dec.: Seven-match ODI series vs. Sri Lanka
18 Jan. - 30 Jan.: International triangular series with Australia and India
14 Feb. - ???: 2015 ODI World Cup
13 April - 1 May: Three Tests vs. West Indies
21 May - 23 June: Two Tests and five ODIs vs. New Zealand
8 July - 13 Sept.: Five Tests, one T20I and five ODIs vs. Australia
Anyone see trouble ahead?
England's far-from-settled 50-over team face a tough seven-game tryst in Sri Lanka—where they've won just four ODIs since 1982—followed by a nightmarish tri-nation series Down Under and then the World Cup itself.
At the ICC showpiece event, a tough group that includes Sri Lanka again, hosts Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh awaits. And given the intense pressure Alastair Cook continues to be under, anything less than a semi-final appearance would secure the beleaguered skipper a one-way ticket to Sackville.
In red-ball cricket, things should be brighter for England when they crush the disjointed West Indies over three Tests in April...assuming the Caribbean Islanders still exist as a team at that point.
But then, it gets serious. The much improved Black Caps, who are far from the traditional early season cannon fodder, could cause trouble before a salivating Mitchell Johnson and co. arrive for the Ashes.
One thing is for sure, a series of difficult games await and, as per the parlance of our times, trouble on the pitch would inevitably lead to a maelstrom of opinion off it, whipping the media and world of twitter into a "recall KP" frenzy!
Off the pitch
So, continuing the hypothesising, assuming Cook loses the ODI captaincy after a disastrous World Cup campaign which sadly seems somewhat inevitable, his position as Test skipper would rest on the Ashes.
That plays into the hands of the Australians who'll be licking their lips at turning over England at home and causing more long-term carnage.
The bookies have the Baggy Greens as heavy favourites to win the epic five-Test contest, and should they do so, Cook's leadership stint would be over.
A snowball effect of an Ashes defeat would lead to the man at the top of the England Cricket Board, Paul Downton, who effectively staked his position on the unceremonious axing of KP.
The pressure would mount, the vultures would circle, the Internet-warriors would type and Downton's position could become untenable. And who knows who would take over at the very top, but it could easily be one of the legion of pro-KP supporters.
As for the new England cricket captain, at this point of time, Ian Bell and Stuart Broad seem realistic contenders to replace Cook.
It is unclear how they both view Pietersen having both known and played with him for many years but a recall of the South African-born trailblazer would help signal the beginning of a new regime.
Kevin Pietersen
But seriously, allowing for the wild speculation in the previous paragraphs, the most important thing that needs to happen to fast forward or improve the possibility of a Pietersen-England return would be for the former Notts, Hampshire and Surrey man to score big runs across in all forms of cricket.
KP is scheduled to play in the Big Bash League for Melbourne Stars and then the IPL for the Delhi Daredevils so there's plenty of opportunity to perform in high-profile environments.
However, the traditional "proving ground" of the English game is county cricket, and Pietersen needs to get his head down for Surrey (although, technically he hasn't signed for them at the time of writing) and spend piles of first-class runs.
If he is doing that while England are struggling against New Zealand and the Aussies then strange things could happen.
Conclusion
Will it happen? Will it not? The biggest issue is clearly KP himself, who gives the impression he'd prefer to sulk and earn the big bucks playing high-octane, if quickly forgettable, T20 cricket around the globe.
Of course, in an ideal scenario, England will prove all of the above wrong, have a great World Cup run and then smash the Aussies in the Ashes. But it's a funny old game.
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