Back With England

When I retired from international cricket, I genuinely believed that chapter of my life was over.

I’d experienced the highs, the lows, the victories, the disappointments, everything in between. I never imagined that, more than a decade later, I’d be asked to walk back into an England environment. Not to relive the past, but to help shape the future. That makes this opportunity incredibly special.

I am immensely proud to have been asked to help this team on their journey to win a World Cup in South Africa.

Coming back into the England setup for the first time since 2014 is a profound honour and a deeply special moment. We have an incredibly talented white-ball squad, and I am excited to get in the trenches and work relentlessly hard with the players to maximise their potential. To be part of Brendon’s think tank over the next 12 months is a fantastic opportunity, and I cannot wait to get started.

I’ve always believed there are two types of people in elite sport: those who hope they’ll improve, and those who decide they will.

I only ever knew one way during my career. If I wanted to become the best player I could be, it meant working harder and longer than anyone else. Sun-up till sunset. Every day, finding another one per cent. That mentality doesn’t leave you. And it won’t change now.

I’ve made one promise to Brendon and to the players: that I’ll bring the same energy, commitment and honesty I demanded of myself. My job isn’t to reinvent anyone. It’s to help them find another level. To help them become the very best versions of themselves, embrace responsibility under pressure and, ultimately, become match-winners for England.

World Cups aren’t won on talent alone. They’re won by teams full of players who stand up in the biggest moments, embrace the challenge and refuse to take a backward step.

The exciting thing is that England already has an outstanding white-ball group. The talent is there. The skill is there. My role is to help unlock every bit of potential in that dressing room.

One thing that won’t change is my passion for the game itself. Whether I’m working with England over the next 12 months or filming The Switch around the world, I’ll continue spending time with the very best players, learning from them, challenging them and sharing those experiences with all of you. I genuinely believe those conversations and relationships make me a better coach, just as this role with England will make The Switch even richer for everyone who follows it.

And yes, don’t worry, The Switch is coming to South Africa too. I’ve always loved a challenge. This is one of the biggest and most exciting challenges I’ve ever accepted.

The target couldn’t be clearer. A World Cup on South African soil. I can’t wait to get started.

I asked what the next chapter of The Hundred should look like. You were not especially torn about it.

A clear majority of you said move to T20 from the next broadcast cycle. Barely anyone wanted the 100-ball format kept beyond 2028.

So the readers of this newsletter and the people who just bought these franchises want the same thing. That is usually how formats end up changing.

Adelaide Was The One

People ask me for a favourite ground and expect an English answer. It is not an English answer.

Adelaide Oval is the best place I ever batted. I could not miss there. That is not a figure of speech. It is how it actually felt walking out: the ball looked bigger, the outfield looked faster, and the bowling looked ordinary.

In December 2010 I made 227 there. Highest score of my Test career.

England won by an innings and 71 runs, and we went on to win a series in Australia for the first time since 1986-87.

Four years before that I made 158 on the same ground and we lost. That is Adelaide as well. It gave me runs in games we won and games we threw away, and I loved it either way.

The Oval, Not Lord’s

This is the one that annoys people. The Oval is my favourite ground in England and it is not close.

Lord’s has the history. The Oval has my life in it.

September 2005. Final Test, Ashes still live, and I made 158 on the last day. Shane Warne dropped me at slip on the way through. I have never once felt bad about that.

Ten years later I went back and made 355 not out for Surrey on the same square. A county game in May, nobody much watching. It remains the biggest score of my life and I would not trade the circumstances.

Should England play Test cricket at more than the same seven grounds?

Vote below. Results in the next issue.

Lord’s Is A Different Category

None of that makes Lord’s second best. It makes it a different thing entirely.

I made my Test debut there in July 2005. Fifty-seven and sixty-four not out, and Australia beat us by 239 runs. Then five hundreds went on that honours board over the next six years, against Sri Lanka, West Indies, India, South Africa, and India again.

The 202 not out in 2011 is the one people bring up. Fair enough.

The Oval is where I felt best. Lord’s is the one I look back on now and quietly wonder how I got away with it.

Those are not the same feeling and I would not give up either.

A Decade At Old Trafford

Now the other side of it. I could not bat at Old Trafford.

For most of my career it was simply a ground where I did not make runs, and after long enough that stops being a thing in the pitch and becomes a thing in your head.

Then in August 2013 I made 113 there against Australia. Twenty-third Test hundred. Also the last one I ever made.

Of all the grounds for that to happen on. I am not going to pretend it fixed anything backwards. It did not. But there is something quite funny about the ground I spent a decade dreading being the one that handed me the final one.

Chelmsford And Guyana

Years ago I put out a list of grounds I did not enjoy playing at. Chelmsford was first. Providence Stadium in Guyana was second.

I never explained either of them.

I am not going to invent a reason now to tidy that up. What I will say is that both entries were completely sincere at the time and I have not changed my mind on either.

So ask me. Reply to this email with the one you actually want answered, Chelmsford or Guyana, and I will deal with it properly next time.

Edgbaston On Wednesday

Third Test starts at Edgbaston on Wednesday with the series already gone. That is exactly the situation where you find out what a side is actually made of.

Edgbaston never made either of my lists. I made 142 there against Sri Lanka in 2006 and 71 in the two-run Test in 2005, and I remember that crowd far better than I remember my own batting.

If you haven’t voted in the poll yet, scroll back up. I’ll run the results at the top of the next issue.

See you in a fortnight.

Kevin Pietersen

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