K evin Pietersen insisted he is a “completely different” person these days as he sat down at Headingley – the ground where he declared “it’s tough being me in this dressing room” 14 years earlier – and spoke at length about his role as the new “specialist mentor” to England’s white-ball teams.
In the aftermath of a 16-run loss to Sri Lanka that sends this late summer one-day series into an Oval decider on Sunday, Pietersen also revealed that while not full-time – “I’ll be in and out” – his input may not be restricted to the challenge of winning the 50-over World Cup in South Africa next year. A home Ashes comes before that, the series that launched his career back in 2005, and discussions with Stephen Fleming, the incoming Test coach, and Joe Root have already taken place.
For now though it is Harry Brook’s team that has his attention beyond work as a content creator and home life, with this role the brainchild of Brendon McCullum, now the specialist white-ball coach. Pietersen was racking his brains as to whether he had publicly criticised England when McCullum’s name flashed up on his phone.
“I thought I was in trouble,” said Pietersen. “‘What have I done now? Have I said something?’ But [after]: ‘How are you doing? ‘All good?’ ‘Yes, I’m fine. What do you want?’ [McCullum replied:] ‘I want you to join us in the dressing room. We want to work over the next 12 months to be competitive in South Africa next year.’
“And then we talked about how critical I had been of the setup. And it took a couple of weeks of conversations to convince me that it was something that I wanted to do. So it was a phone call, a couple of meetings face to face, and I said: ‘Let’s go.’”
As the maverick talent who left South Africa all those years ago and through sheer will turned himself into an England great, Pietersen’s pedigree is not in question. A number of the current generation were inspired to pick up a bat by his exploits; those mind-bending innings that dropped jaws to the floor. A starstruck Tom Banton, for example, took a few days to approach him at the start of this series.
Nevertheless, it could be viewed as another wild punt from McCullum in terms of the dynamic within the setup, with Pietersen’s cricket career one with plenty of discord along the way; from his kit being thrown out of the Trent Bridge dressing room as a youngster, right through to his unceremonious sacking as an England player in early 2014 and the score-settling autobiography that followed.
The early signs are encouraging, however, with a far more relaxed Pietersen said to now be able to laugh at himself when the piss-taking has flown in this first fortnight. Co-commentators during his occasional television work say the same. And going by his chat with the written media – an industry he recently wrote off and has not entirely trusted in the past – he sounds genuinely energised to shape a side that, beyond Root and Jos Buttler, is learning 50-over cricket on the job.
“I’m 46 now. That stuff is so long gone,” he said. “I’m a completely different person too. I live in the countryside. I live in South Africa. I love doing what I do. I’m just here to help Brendon, first and foremost, to help the players try and become the best versions of themselves.
“I’ve been lucky to have worn every T-shirt that an England cricketer can wear: the good, the bad, and the unhappy. And so there are parts to all of their careers which I think that I could potentially help them to stay away from the unhappy.
“Most of you guys covered a lot of my career. Morning to night I was relentless in my pursuit to be the best version of myself. Since that first call [from McCullum] came in I just talked about the non-negotiables of how I believe each person should live in a dressing room and the full commitment. How I think we can get better as individuals, as a team, and be successful and consistent.”
McCullum’s play here is more than just buzzwords and the hope of some residual stardust, something which Pietersen was not wrong in stating has been mischaracterised in certain quarters. “Perception and reality are two different things,” he said repeatedly, having been among the most high-profile names to question England’s work ethic.
The early days have been about listening more than speaking, Pietersen stressed, but he is already concocting and delivering training drills. His students hanging on his every word, even if it will take time to fully permeate, while McCullum has also been inundated with ideas from a fertile mind on a relaxed take-it-or-leave-it basis.
Pietersen’s eyes rolled and he smiled when the recent claim from Ben Stokes that Brook is the better player came up. But he also recognises the comparisons that have followed the young England captain so far, believing he can have a positive impact on a batter who is absurdly gifted, putting up the numbers, but partial to the odd self-own.
“I watched him play in, I think, the first season of the Hundred, and he hit a ball from wide of off-stump through mid-wicket, and then the next ball over cover and I remember on air saying: ‘Who is this kid? He is an absolute superstar in the making. A normal player can’t do that.’ And I’ve watched his progression over the years.
“Where I can help him is playing situations. Because there was a lot of method in my madness when I played. Yes, occasionally I got out to reckless shots and stuff. But actually there was a lot of structure to the way I batted. I’ve still got notes on my phone on how I played in T20 cricket, one-day cricket, Test cricket.
“I think that all-round structure is something I could potentially help him with because he’s so flipping good. Like, he’s a joke. It’s actually frightening how good he is and how good he can be.”
And the feeling of being back? “For my career to be cut short in the way all the nonsense was, to be in this position now where I don’t have to go out and bat, I don’t have to worry about the headlines, I can just try and help these guys become better players, to hand over quite a bit of information – that excites me. Like, really excites me. Being back in an England dressing room is amazing. It really is.”
Fourteen years on from finding it tough being him, a little wiser and more relaxed with the passing of time, Pietersen’s second act with England is no less intriguing.
