Pietersen asks Duncan Fletcher for help
Mar 11 2010 - 09:58:05
What Graham Gooch- England's batting consultant -must make of Kevin Pietersen's calls to old coach Duncan Fletcher, to reverse his woeful form is unknown
Former England coach Duncan Fletcher has revealed Kevin Pietersen contacted him after the recently-completed one-day international series in Bangladesh as he attempts to find a way out of his batting slump.
Pietersen has endured a torrid time with bat in hand since arriving on the sub-continent, managing just just 69 runs in seven innings.
"He called me at the end of the one-day series and we had a long chat about his game. We discussed certain technical points," Fletcher wrote in his column in the Guardian.
"All players have weaknesses. One of the things that impressed me most about Pietersen when I worked with him was that where a lot of people run away from their problems, he has always been willing to meet them head-on.
"If he feels that facing left-arm spin is an area of concern, then he will practise playing that style of bowling over and again in the nets.
"If he does have a flaw in his technique he can still rely on his decision-making, his judgment of how or whether to play a delivery, to see him through."
Fletcher added that despite Pietersen's brash style, the right-hander needed to establish himself at the crease if he was to turn his fortunes around in the first Test against Bangladesh, which starts in Chittagong on Friday.
"There is a perception that Pietersen is an exciting, attacking player and because of that people expect him to go out there in Test cricket and hit the ball from the start," he added.
"That is not his style. If you look back at his best innings for England, in both one-day and Test cricket, he was definitely someone who got himself established at the crease before he expanded his game to attack the bowling."