Pietersen: An A-Grade Showman

KP - proud to be different.

When Kevin Pietersen walks out to bat he demands attention and provokes reaction.

It has been so since his first major international series, a one-day campaign in his homeland of South Africa, one which began with deafening jeers and concluded with comprehensive cheers.

Great sportsmen have that ability to turn the tide of popular opinion, attract favour where it is more naturally repelled and gain admiration for their primal talent.

Pietersen, 28, went through the process with those three hundreds against the South Africans in that winter of 2004-05.

Never will he forget the symbolic impact of supporters turning their backs on him in Bloemfontein - when he made his first century - or the rotation of the crowd 180 degrees to applaud him off after his third at Centurion less than a fortnight later.

Overcoming prejudice has been a theme of Pietersen's career - he left South Africa thinking, rightly or wrongly, that the quota system had hampered his chances, English supporters were initially against his inclusion in the national side due to his Durban roots and opposition teams questioned his Englishness.

Yet he has excelled by being different, having that sense of other, the confidence to stand out from the crowd.

Image has been at the centre of Pietersen transcending his own sport and into the nation's conscience.

A peacock strutting, a boy racer with go faster stripes, an A grade showman, who never neglects the opportunity to select the most appropriate stages for the greatest impact, Pietersen craves public attention.

But those inclined to worry that modern sport solely exists as a fame academy should consider the preparation that goes into Pietersen's work.

Everything he has done in his career has been about furthering himself - switching countries, counties and positions in the crease.

Pietersen loves the game, its traditions and the chance to be integral to its future.

Those that use the evidence of his previous female dalliances or even subsequent marriage to Liberty X pop star Jessica Taylor to suggest the cricket is incidental and he is in it solely for the next sponsorship deal are wide of the mark.

He might not be averse to the cameras or shy of publicity but he is driven by fame through sporting prowess.

There is not a more technically accomplished, more entertaining, more frustratingly brilliant batsman in the world today.

And the best have that sense of dramatic timing, which Pietersen demonstrated in spades with two sixes as a left-hander off Kiwi Scott Styris earlier in the summer.

His first serious skirmish with Australia was the brilliant innings at Bristol which sealed a significant England victory, his maiden Test hundred later that summer sealed an Oval draw and an Ashes urn, and there was a sense of real destiny about his most recent hundred against the South Africans at Lord's.

Never let it be said that Pietersen is not up for a challenge. He lives for them.

He prepares like an obsessive-compulsive in the nets and after every great innings there has been a desire for another of greater quality.

And he shows no favouritism to his foes - no country he has met in Test cricket has been spared in the century stakes nor has he taken any for more than two.

It emphasises his ability to visualise how he will score his runs, assess what threats the opposition hold and carry out his task.

So just three years after first stepping on to the Test stage, Pietersen has joined a grand slam club also housing Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara and Michael Vaughan.

The thing which makes Pietersen different to them is his distrust of convention.

Different opposition have lured him towards different tactics - he has tried to make great bowlers feel not so great (he hit Shane Warne for eight sixes in the 2005 Ashes) and made others open up gaps by attacking in unusual areas.

There is no doubting his favourite scoring area is the leg side but he is no fool, and if barricades exist there it means spaces are open elsewhere.

The most recent example came at Edgbaston last week when spinner Paul Harris attempted to negate his impact by bowling over the wicket into the rough with an on-side field only to be clobbered for two reverse-swept fours.

Take your eyes off him if you can.