Pietersen: Great Shot! Now put it back in the locker...

Like me I'm sure you marveled at KP's brilliant switch-batted six hitting in the first ODI against New Zealand. Its a shot that takes an amazing eye, hand-speed, as well as bravery. I'm all in favor of such innovations, but I think KP took it a step to far.

Sure you're going to think that anything that makes thousands flock to a game of cricket is a good thing, but what many forget is that cricket is not solely an entertainment business, but also a competitive game.

Let me explain:

When a batsman walks out into the middle he declares that he's is going to bat either right or left handed, for this they adopt the stance with the bat facing the off-side which the fielders are then set too.

By completely changing your grip and stance as Pietersen does you are essentially lying to the fielding team allowing you to hit the ball easily into areas that aren't possible if you batted normally!

If I walk out to bat next Saturday and say "I'm going to bat left-handed" and then, as the bowler is running in, change to a right-handed stance it is going to mean I can bat with a field set as if I was left handed! With the MCC allowing this it means that I can do this all game—someone is going to get annoyed.

And what about bowlers having balls on the batman's offside being called wides on the offside? If the batsman is going to change into a left-handed batsman during the bowlers run-up, then if the bowler bowls down the right hander's legside to the left hander it should not be called a wide as it is no longer the legside but the left handed batsman's offside. (It sounds confusing but just try and picture what I'm saying.) 

If they are going to allow this then surely the bowler should be given some protection, or at least a trick or two of their own! I mean, if on Saturday I told the batsman I was going to bowl right-arm and then switched to a left-arm bowler when I released the ball, the umpire would no-ball me! But if a batsman switched from a right to a left hander the only noise i'd hear would be "great shot!" 

Anyway it doesn't matter what I think but here's a few tips that might work when bowling to a switch-hitter:

1. Don't bowl. When you are running in to bowl and see the batsman quickly switch hands pull up and start again. If he persists you persist, make him play properly!!! 

2. Bounce the b***ard. (Not too good if you're a spinner.)