The Great Unknown

Pietersen - Putting His Form In Danger.

Mike Atherton says the England selectors are gambling with new captain Kevin Pietersen's form.

The appointment of Kevin Pietersen was inevitable given the fact that the England selectors wanted one man to do all three jobs.

By that I mean of course captaining the Test, one-day and Twenty20 sides and the reality is, whatever his merits as a captain, he is the only player that justifies his place in the side in all three formats.

Personally, I don't see why we shouldn't have separate captains anymore.

I don't see why the selectors feel they have to have one man for three separate jobs. Captaining the Test side is a tough enough job in it's own right, as we saw in Michael Vaughan's press conference, and it is even tougher when you are doing all three.

It's not as if we are talking about the same set of players for the different formats either.

Fair enough if you have one guy, which at this moment looks like it could be Pietersen, who can do it, but I still can't see any reason why we can't have more than one captain.

But whatever the circumstance, it is a gamble. And it will remain a gamble, depending on how Pietersen goes.

I don't just mean as captain, but moreover how the job affects his game.

That is the key issue here. If it doesn't and he continues to play the way he has been doing, it will of course prove a good appointment. Likewise, if it does affect his performances it will prove to be a gamble that has backfired.

I hope he can make that transition from being England's best player to being the England captain.

There have been plenty in the not too distant past who it didn't work for, the likes of Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff for example, so it is not always the case that your best - and most aggressive - player does well as England captain.

Kevin Pietersen is a fantastic player, though. He prepares well and will set a fantastic example for the other players in that area, but it is still a step into the great unknown.

He has got a terrific cricketing brain, that much we know - you only have to look at the way he bats to see that. He is a thinking batsman and there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to take that into the captaincy.

Do not be fooled by the earrings, the bling and the tattoos either.

We are talking about a proper professional cricketer here and the only thing anyone should be concerned with is whether or not the responsibility of being captain affects his game.

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